MAPUTO: Mozambicans go to the polls on Wednesday as the impoverished and long strife-torn country stands on the cusp of reaping vast oil and gas wealth.
Frelimo, a once Marxist-Leninist party that has ruled since independence from Portugal in 1975, is almost certain to win.
But it will emerge with a new president at the helm and, in all likelihood, a lower margin of victory.
The party's nominee is little-known Filipe Nyusi, 55, who would be Mozambique's first post-colonial leader with no liberation war credentials.
Nyusi would replace his mentor and outgoing president Armando Guebuza, 71, whose term in office was marked by rapid economic expansion. The southern African nation is forecast to see its gross domestic product expand by 8.3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
But it has been growth that has done little to curb ingrained poverty. The lack of improvement in living standards for ordinary Mozambicans has some calling for change.
"I have lived under colonial rule, saw independence come, and after 40 years of Frelimo government, we want change," said Domingo Wate, a 60-year-old grandfather and a spice vendor.
"We are tired of this inhumane regime. They have no interest in people's welfare, they only want to line their own pockets."
That sentiment could see Frelimo's support drop from 75 percent of voters in 2009 to around 60 percent, according to analysts.
Frelimo's civil war foe and main electoral rival, Afonso Dhlakama, 61, only emerged last month from the bush where he was holed up for two years as his supporters fought running skirmishes with government forces.
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