Mozambique: Young people divided by extension of mandatory military service
DW / Manuel de Araújo, mayor of Quelimane and member of MDM
The 2nd MDM Congress begins in Nampula today amid protest and controversy. Manuel de Araújo acknowledges that there is a crisis within the party and disagrees with its current strategy, but says that his relationship with the MDM “is good”.
The 2nd congress of Mozambique’s second-largest opposition party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), starts amid protest by Nampula residents following the assassination of the city’s mayor, Mahamudo Amurane, last October. At the time of his death, the mayor had severed relations with the MDM.
How will this tension be managed in Congress?
Mayor of Quelimane Manuel de Araújo is a member of the MDM and hopes to see this and other MDM crises debated in Nampula.
DW Africa: What do you expect from the 2nd MDM Congress at this delicate stage for the party?
Manuel de Araújo (MA): I think MDM members will have the opportunity to discuss these and other issues and adopt a strategy on how to manage conflicts and what we in the MDM want.
DW Africa: Do you think MDM minimised …
MA: It was not the MDM that minimised, it was the leaders of the MDM, because in the MDM there are a lot of people. And, as in any democratic party, there are many people who do not agree with the leadership’s strategy. I think that where there is democracy there can be no uniqueness of thought. It’s not the MDM, but I say it’s the leadership, and even within that, it’s some people. We also meet people who are members of the political committee who do not agree.
DW Africa: How would you rate your relationship with MDM? Is it a healthy relationship?
MA: It’s a healthy relationship, it’s a good relationship – I’d say it’s great. But there is one issue, which is that people are not accustomed to accommodating divergent ideas. And I say publicly and privately, we discuss and create in the MDM, and it was not by chance that we put the letter D for democratic in the middle, which neither Frelimo nor other parties have. And the MDM should be an example of democracy, and we will fight for it regardless of the price we pay in the short, medium and long term, including …
DW Africa: Including?
MA: Including what happened [murders] or what is happening to several people in Mozambique.
DW Africa: The MDM will hold its 2nd Congress in Nampula, a place where there are strong protests by some residents. How do you feel about having to hold this event against such opposition?
MA: I feel good. Those who should not be feeling so good are those who decided that the Congress should be held in Nampula. We had a meeting of the [MDM] national council in Chimoio and the commission established application rules – that the provinces could apply to receive Congress. And by the end of the official term established by the political commission only one province, Zambézia, had submitted a candidacy. But there were people who did not see it as good form that Congress should be held [in Zambézia] and did everything they could for the Congress to be help in Nampula. And this is the result. So these people should be worried. I’m very calm.
DW Africa: At this moment of relative tension, how would you assess cohesion in the MDG?
MA: I said in my last interview with DW that this was a crisis if growth within the MDM and that it was a test for the direction of the MDM; it was a challenge and it was necessary for the leadership to show that it knows how to manage conflicts. Unfortunately, I did not agree with the strategy that the leadership adopted. I wrote a letter to President Daviz Simango, with a copy for all members of the political commission and for all members of the secretariat and for the chairman of the board of the national council, informing that I was distancing myself from the strategy that the party leadership was taking in Nampula and concerning Mahamudo Amurane.
I think that if they had taken into account my advice the MDM would not be where it is today, with a clear crisis in the municipality of Nampula where the mayor was assassinated, and where his replacement, Mr Tocova, has just been dismissed because of some stubborn attitudes, and where today we are in a situation of complete uncertainty. This to me is a sign that we are still in the growth phase, and that we still have a lot to learn in terms of conflict management. But I’m glad it all happened before Congress.
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