Mozambique: Dhlakama’s son calls for a Renamo Congress – AIM report

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Mozambique: Dhlakama’s son calls for a Renamo Congress – AIM report

3:27 CAT | 16 Jan 2024

File photo: AIM

Bilal Sulay, the son of Afonso Dhlakama, the late leader of Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, has urged the current leader, Ossufo Momade, to ensure that his successor is chosen by a Renamo Congress.

In an open letter to Momade, cited by the Portuguese news agency Lusa, Sulay said “the Congress is the appropriate place for the members to express their opinions and to vote democratically for the candidate whom they believe would be the best representative of our party in elections”.

Earlier this month, the Renamo national spokesperson, Jose Manteigas, declared that Momade will be the party’s candidate in the presidential election scheduled for 9 October. But the Renamo statutes say that the candidate should be elected by a congress.

Momade himself was elected President of Renamo at a Congress held in January 2019. His five year term of office ends this week.

Sulay warned that if a candidate is chosen without any democratic scrutiny, that “will undermine the trust of Party members and the legitimacy of the candidate”.

Sulay declared it is “crucial” to follow democratic procedures and the norms of the party.

The decision announced by Manteigas should be reconsidered, he urged, and it was a Congress which should determine that the candidate chosen really represents the will of the membership.

Last Friday, Venancio Mondlane, the Renamo candidate for mayor of Maputo in the recent municipal elections announced that he is willing to run for the presidency of Renamo at the forthcoming congress. If Mondlane wins, he will almost certainly be the Renamo candidate in the October presidential election.

But no date has yet been fixed for the Congress, and so Momade could hold onto his position simply by delaying the Congress indefinitely.

Source: AIM