CIP Mozambique Elections: MDM and Renamo will boycott the investiture
Mozambique: Momade re-runs for president of Renamo, welcomes high number of candidates
3:14 CAT | 08 May 2024
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]
The leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Ossufo Momade, announced on Tuesday that he would run for the position again at next week’s congress, and that the number of candidates for the presidency is synonymous with the health of democracy within the largest opposition party.
“We fought for democracy; we fought when we were still young and we have reached this point defending democracy,” Ossufo Momade told journalists in Maputo yesterday.
Renamo, which meets in an elective congress between the 15th and 16th in Zambézia, central Mozambique, has been led by Ossufo Momade since the death of historical leader Afonso Dhlakama (2018), with the mandate of the current bodies expiring last January 17th.
“I want to fulfil what I did not do in this mandate. […] I will present my electoral manifesto and the decision will be made by the members in congress,” Momade said, stressing that “a greater number” of candidates for the presidency “is welcome”.
At least six other Renamo members had presented their candidacies for president by early afternoon today.
Venâncio Mondlane, deputy and head of list for Maputo in the last local elections; Ivone Soares, deputy and former head of the Renamo parliamentary bench; Alfredo Magumisse, member of the political committee; Elias Dhlakama, brother of the Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama; André Magibire, former general secretary; and Anselmo Vitor, head of the training department, presented their candidacies at the national headquarters.
In April, the Renamo National Council approved the profile of the party’s candidate for the October presidential elections, demanding of applicants, among other requirements, at least 15 years of uninterrupted activism.
Venâncio Mondlane then presented a precautionary measure to the Constitutional Council (CC) demanding the annulment of this profile, a matter that, according to him, has not yet reached an outcome.
READ: Mozambique: Venâncio Mondlane determined to stand for Renamo presidency – AIM
“The CC did not disapprove the request. (…) The CC felt that there were no conditions to make a decision without physically having the deliberation of the Renamo National Council. But even you, who are journalists, did not have access to this deliberation, because it was not shared with the members, but this is still an open matter. As long as the party shares the deliberation with its members, we will submit an appeal,” Mondlane declared moments after submitting his documents at Renamo’s party headquarters.
For Mondlane, “the congress is sovereign” and will make “the last decision”.
“I believe that, based on all the debate that was held, the congress has the elements to admit not only my candidacy, but also those of everyone who presented their documents,” Mondlane stressed.
Momade, the current leader of the party, has been criticised externally and internally for inaction in the face of alleged irregularities in the Mozambican municipal elections last October, and has also been accused of negligence regarding the situation of party guerrillas demobilised under the peace agreement with the government.
Among the members who submitted their candidacies yesterday, talk about the party’s internal cohesion is common.
“Renamo’s leadership is not responding to the anxieties of members, society and the whole world and this is no secret, it is being talked about everywhere,” observed Manuel Bissopo, Elias Dhlakama’s representative, moments after submitting the documents.
“All organisations have their internal issues, so, whatever it is, when we take the leadership of the party we will resolve it, we will bring more cohesion within the party,” said André Magibire, also speaking to the media after submitting his documents.
“President Ossufo has been severely challenged, accused of not building internal cohesion,” added candidate Alfredo Magumisse.
Mozambique will hold general elections on October 9, including for president.
READ: Mozambique: Dhlakama’s niece plans to run for Renamo presidency
Source: Lusa
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