President
Joaquim Chissano succeeded to the presidency in 1986 when Samora Machel's presidential aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain in South Africa.
After the Mozambican Civil War, during which the Renamo rebels become a regular political party, Chissano won multi-party elections in 1994 and again in 1999. In 1999, he defeated the former rebel leader, Afonso Dhlakama, by 52.3% to 47.7%. Chissano served as Chairperson of the African Union from July 2003 to July 2004.
Chissano chose not to run for a third term in the elections of 2004, although the constitution would have allowed him to do so. Frelimo selected Armando Guebuza as its candidate, who defeated Dhlakama by a larger margin of votes than in 1999.
Chissano left office at the end of his term in February 2005.
Read more about this topic: Joaquim Chissano
Famous quotes containing the word president:
“What are men celebrating? They are all on a committee of arrangements, and hourly expect a speech from somebody. God is only the president of the day, and Webster is his orator.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In a large university, there are as many deans and executive heads as there are schools and departments. Their relations to one another are intricate and periodic; in fact, “galaxy” is too loose a term: it is a planetarium of deans with the President of the University as a central sun. One can see eclipses, inner systems, and oppositions.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)
“The President has only 190 million bosses. The Vice President has 190 million and one.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)