Frelimo Congress will “limit itself to making minimal adjustments”

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Frelimo Congress will “limit itself to making minimal adjustments”

10:49 CAT | 26 Sep 2017

Notícias

Mozambican academics interviewed by Lusa believe that the 11th Frelimo congress will “limit itself to making minimal internal adjustments”.

“The changes that can be expected will be minimal adjustments to put Frelimo [Liberation Front of Mozambique] in a position to win the next elections,” José Jaime Macuana, commentator and professor at Eduardo Mondlane University, says.

Macuana highlights the party’s reluctance to change as a factor at a time when the political and social context was generating opposition and criticism from various social players – after a year in which inflation reached 25 percent and the scandal of illicit debts contracted by the State between 2013 and 2014 broke.

“Frelimo, in part, does not have the strength to make the changes we need,” Macuana says.

As an example, he points out the lack of options in the economic sphere, “especially in the condition that we are in, of a state that presents itself economically bankrupt,” the university professor said.

For the academic, the country needs “bold and creative” leadership with the ability to think “outside the box.”

“It does not seem to me that there is any bold thought so far. But in any case, Frelimo will definitely have to make a readjustment for the coming times,” Macuana thinks.

Mozambican economist Carlos Castel-Branco thinks that if the 11th Frelimo Congress is anything like what has been happening in the Assembly of the Republic, where the party has a majority of parliamentary seats, Mozambicans should not expect any big results.

“The parliament approved the inclusion of illicit debts in the general accounts of the State. Parliament is protecting people in order to protect the ruling party. If the congress is a sample of what the parliament already does, I do not have many hopes,” the director of the Institute of Social and Economic Studies noted.

Castel-Branco Says that, without facing up to the problem of the state‘s “great fiscal crisis” and its illicit debts, Frelimo’s chances of finding ways to overcome this “bad moment” are reduced.

“If these are not the points of reference, I do not have much hope of seeing concrete things come out of the congress,” he stresses.

Sérgio Chichava is equally sceptical about what can be expected from the Frelimo congress.

A researcher at the Institute of Social and Economic Studies (IESE), one of Mozambique’s leading research institutes, he believes that the meeting will only serve to bolster Filipe Nyusi’s position.

“President Nyusi will strengthen his leadership. This is a time when the president will really try to impose himself, without internal interference,” says the academic.

Chichava thinks Frelimo has no interest in dealing with the hidden debts during the congress, insofar as this could only divide the party at a time when the need for unity in the face of electoral challenges is self-evident.

In addition, he believes that the group that is in power will not demand the accountability of the authors of the illicit debt because some members of the current executive were part of the previous government, such as the Mozambican president himself, who was minister of defence.

“At the moment, the party’s biggest enemy is the opposition, and I believe that nothing will be done that might hinder party cohesion,” the researcher concludes.

In contrasting to the analysts, who expect little from the congress, the party organs have publicly placed high hopes on Nyusi.

Frelimo’s political committee approved a resolution on Monday supporting his reinstatement as party leader, and citing him as the promoter of “positive results in the recovery process” of the Mozambican economy and in the “effective peace-seeking process” in the country. ”

The political commission also said that their “pride” in having the current leader as “helmsman” reflected the sentiment of the central and local organs of Frelimo, as well as their social organisations.

The 11th Frelimo Congress will take place from September 26 to October 1 in the city of Matola, near Maputo.

Nyusi has been at the helm of Frelimo and Mozambique for three years, having succeeded Armando Guebuza in both positions after the latter’s ten-year mandate.

Source: Lusa