Mozambique would be holding national general elections on October 15, 2014, in what was billed by analysts as a transitional election. “The people of Mozambique have started talking about a new generation of leaders taking over, and do not want the struggle generation running the country anymore,” said Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) Mozambique country director Miguel de Brito. He was speaking at a democracy seminar series hosted by EISA on Thursday.

Another significant element of the elections is the passing of the baton within the ruling Frelimo party. “The baton will be passed on to a new candidate [Filipe Nyusi] since the current president [Emílio Guebuza] has reached his two-term limit,” said De Brito.

This would be Mozambique’s fifth national elections, which would be contested mainly by three candidates: Nyusi, main opposition Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama, and leader of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) Daviz Simango.

De Brito said a third important factor in the elections would be how the MDM fared. “The party will be contesting its second national general elections since it was created in 2009 on the eve of the fourth general elections, and we have seen it grow every year to be a major factor in Mozambican politics.”

In 2009, MDM competed in only four of the country’s 11 parliamentary constituencies and won 4% of the vote, which gave it eight seats in Parliament out of 250 seats, with Simango winning 8.5% of the presidential vote. Four years later, the party won 38% of the national urban vote  in municipal elections, including majorities in the second, third and fourth largest provincial capitals in the country, notes De Brito.

Twenty-nine parties and coalitions will be contesting the 2014 elections, with Frelimo, Renamo and MDM competing in all 13 constituencies. “The question is no longer about whether Guebuza can carry on dominating Mozambican elections, but about whether we are about to see the end of Frelimo’s victories,” he said.

He added that Frelimo was contesting the elections on a platform of improving the country’s infrastructure such as roads and schools. Renamo was doing so on a platform of opposing everything that Frelimo stood for, while MDM was contesting the elections on a platform of fighting corruption, opposing the domination of Mozambique by elites and making a commitment to improving peoples’ salaries and living conditions.

It remained to be seen whether MDM would overtake Renamo as the main opposition, and whether Mozambique would have its first presidential run-off in its history, between the ruling Frelimo’s candidate and the increasingly popular MDM’s candidate, said De Brito.