BETWEEN BEDROOMS AND BALLOTS: THE POLITICS OF HIV'S ...

state, with Frelimo’s domination. 3
Throughout the country, citizens are afraid to speak out
against the Frelimo government for fear of being sent to jail or killed (as evidenced by at least
half of the survey responses within this research in 2007). This stems in part from
Mozambique’s history of resistance against the Portuguese state which lasted for ten years until
independence in 1975; 17 years of further war between Renamo and Frelimo which destroyed
most of the country’s infrastructure; and recent assassinations of Carlos Cardoso (a well known
journalist who had been investigating bank fraud involving state and business officials) and
António Siba Siba Macuacua (an official who was compiling a report about one of the involved
banks). In the case of the assassinations, one of the sons of Joaquim Chissano (the former
president) was implicated as having ordered the hit on Cardoso, but he died before he could be
fully tried. This has been a well followed story by Mozambicans throughout the country.
Since democracy began in the early 1990s, each election has been marked with at least one
if not all of the following: dissent, boycotts, appeals, contestation of results, (predominantly led
by Renamo and its leader Afonso Dhlakama, who has been its president since the early 1980s).
The claims of problems with voter registration, election fraud, and fake ballots have tended to be
supported by international observers and foreign investment in the country is challenging due to
a high level of bureaucracy.
3 Mozambique is a multi-party democracy with two dominant parties; a five year President (in 2008, Armando
Guebuza) is elected by popular vote and eligible for a second term, a Prime Minister is appointed by the President
(in 2008, Luisa Diogo) and a Council of Ministers oversees the numerous Ministries (Ministry of Health, Justice,
Women and Social Action, Defense, etc). The legislative branch includes the National Assembly which has 250
members, directly elected via proportional representation (for five years). Each party gains representation in
Parliament if it has 5% of the national vote. Frelimo won 62% in the most recent election, and Renamo won 30%.
The judicial branch includes a Supreme Court, whose members are either appointed by the president or are elected
by the assembly) and Provincial (with 11), District (with 128) and Municipal courts. In 2004, Frelimo won 160
Parliament seats (64% of the popular vote). The historical claim of election fraud continued with these elections,
but the final presidential result most likely would not have changed, although the Parliamentary result was
questionable (EISA 2008; CIA Mozambique 2008).
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