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DW / MAMO members visiting the Namicopo neighbourhood in the city of Nampula
MAMO, a party created in 2016 by MDM dissidents, is winning more and more supporters from the MDM and the two main political forces in Mozambique, Frelimo and Renamo.
There is still a year and a half to go before local elections in Mozambique, but political parties are already starting to refine their machinery. One of them is the newly created Movimento Alternativo de Mocambique (MAMO), which is largely made up of dissidents from the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).
The new party, created just over a year ago, is gaining support in Nampula province not only from former MDM members but also from former supporters of the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) and the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo).
MAMO is confident about the upcoming elections. “We will form grassroots organizations so that the party is better prepared for victory,” party secretary general Estevão de Fátima says.
An almost pre-campaign
In pre-campaign gear, de Fátima recently visited the busy neighbourhood of Namicopo in the city of Nampula, and was welcomed by hundreds of people.
“We need to register as soon as the registration process begins, to vote and them to evict the people who rob us of our merchandise next year,” he told the crowd. “Next year, I will come to introduce you to your candidate, who is one of your own. He is an entrepreneur and a man of conviction,” he said.
The MAMO secretary general proposes a solution to the armed conflicts that always take place after elections.
“We need to revise the constitution, because if it is not revised, popular dissatisfaction will continue, and war arises out of popular dissatisfaction. So we urgently need to revise our constitution so that the winner in the province of Nampula governs there. It does not make sense that the person who won in a province goes into opposition straight after the inauguration of the government,” he said.
MDM: members are “cohesive”
The increased popularity of MAMO does not seem to deter the MDM. Rachade Carvalho, senior member of the MDM in Nampula, says more Frelimo sympathizers changed parties than any other. Carvalho believes that the MDM will consolidate its position in the cities where it is in power in the coming elections, and conquer in others.
“I do not see any threat, because at the moment the party in Nampula is much stronger than in previous years,” Carvalho says. According to him, “the members are cohesive and are working together”.
MAMO was created on February 20, 2016 and is most popular in Nampula, Cabo Delgado, Niassa and Zambézia provinces.
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