Sawt Falasteen - Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion

In the vibrant capital of the Portuguese-speaking country, the lack of suspense is palpable days ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections, but it still stirs emotion.

Frelimo will be declared the winner, as it always is, says a 33-year-old selling cell-phone airtime on the street.

"Our elections are never transparent because people vote but the results are manipulated," says the vendor, who would only give his name as Jorge.

The destitute southern African country with high levels of inequality needs elections to bring changes, says a security guard chatting among other vendors.

"A lot of things are getting worse... especially in the rural areas -- there is nothing there. We don't have schools, hospitals, water, electricity," says Jose, 29, who would not give his surname.

"I want Frelimo to lose power," he says. "But everyone knows that they steal votes; Frelimo has done it before and will do it again."

At every crossroad, giant billboards display the face of Daniel Chapo, the ruling party's candidate, in an open-collared white shirt against a red background and the slogan "Forward" and "Get to work!".

A young woman walks into a modest restaurant in the city centre with a Frelimo flag tied over her jeans. "They give us money to wear them," she says.

The amount is the equivalent of four euros, enough to eat for a day or two if you are careful.

On the next street, waiters at a cafe known for its wild DJ nights wear T-shirts and caps bearing the image of the future president. They are "not into politics", they say, refusing to comment.

- 'We want rice!' -

The relentless sun peels away posters on walls around the central market, making them flutter in the wind.

Frelimo, the former Marxist rebel movement whose Soviet-style logo features an ear of corn and a drum, monopolises the space, crowding out its opponents from the Renamo, Podemos and MDM parties.

A woman balancing a bowl of oranges on her head passes a Frelimo pickup truck that blasts a rousing tune from two huge speakers. "Vote Chapo! Vote for Frelimo!" it repeats over and over.

"We want rice!" bellows back a cell-phone accessory salesman with a short goatee and shaved head who sits at a small table on the pavement.

"Thieves! Thieves!" shouts a small group of people a bit further along, near a cart of fresh coconuts.

The pickup stops in front of the market, where Frelimo activists set up a small stand, some with a few swaying steps.

"They're going to eat and drink for a few hours and then go home," comments a disillusioned passerby.

Police officers, some in bullet-proof vests and khaki uniforms, criss-cross the centre where Karl Marx Avenue, parallel to Vladimir Lenin Avenue a little further on, joins Mao Tse Tung Avenue, heroes to independence movements across the continent rubbing shoulders.

In the Janet market, between vegetable stalls and hairdressers patiently plaiting braids, a loudspeaker bursts out from among a group of about 20 young activists from a small, independent party, all dressed in white.

Can Frelimo -- in power since independence from Portugal in 1975 -- ever be dethroned? "I don't know, a lot of parties want to win," says the eldest of the group, Carlos Mahisso, 47.

"If we win seats in parliament, we'll at least be able to discuss the regulations in Mozambique," he says hopefully.

Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST