Mozambique Elections: Former general secretary calls for Renamo congress
File photo: O País
In this morning’s session of the Quelimane Municipal Assembly, the MDM and FRELIMO voted in favour of the terminating the service of Manuel de Araújo as mayor of Quelimane, Jornal Txopela online has reported.
Yesterday, the president of Quelimane Municipal Assembly demanded the resignation of Mayor Manuel de Araújo, who recently left the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) and joined the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the country’s main opposition party.
“It is an anomaly: he has changed party and the new municipal legislation is clear, in Article Six, that he cannot continue as mayor,” César Albuquerque said.
The new Local Authorities Law was recently approved in Mozambique as part of changes to the constitution following negotiations between the Mozambican government and Renamo over decentralisation.
Albuquerque said that the municipal assembly would meet today to present a resolution for the resignation of Manuel de Araújo, noting that the current president of Quelimane was notified to this effect in a letter dated August 17.
“We sent him a letter but he did not respond in a timely manner. He tried, outside official channels, to get the session postponed, but did not present a credible reason,” he added.
Following its resolution, the municipal assembly must refer the case to the Minister of State Administration, who will take subsequent decisions.
Quelimane Municipal Assembly of is made up of 39 members, of whom 26 are from the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) and 13 from the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo), the ruling party.
Lusa tried unsuccessfully to contact Araújo, who, before joining the MDM was a Renamo deputy in the Mozambican parliament, and was elected president of the Municipality of Quelimane in the 2011 midterm elections and re-elected in 2013.
In July, Araújo resigned as MDM head-of-list in the October municipal elections, the following day announcing his return to Renamo to run for the same post in the October elections.
Leave a Reply
Be the First to Comment!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.