Frelimo, Renamo & MDM: Mozambican political parties react to Trump’s election

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Frelimo, Renamo & MDM: Mozambican political parties react to Trump’s election

12:13 CAT | 11 Nov 2016

CNN / Donald Trump during his winning speech

The Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo), the ruling party, said on Thursday that it expected better days in its relationship with the United States after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

“We are looking forward to better days in the relations with the United States,” Edmundo Galiza Matos, spokeswoman for Frelimo’s parliamentary group in the Assembly of the Republic, told the radio station Rádio Moçambique.

The ruling party in Mozambique, Galiza Matos continued, hoped that the United States would exercise its influence in the world constructively, promoting bridges of understanding.

“The US is a major player in world politics and we hope it will play a positive role,” the Frelimo spokeswoman said.

Speaking to Radio Moçambique, the head of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) group said that Donald Trump’s victory was the triumph of all Americans, downplaying the symbolism of a woman’s participation in the race for the presidency.

“It is the victory for the men and women of the United States. It was expected that a woman would win but it didn’t turn out that way,” Soares said.

In a comment her Facebook page, Soares welcomed Trump’s victory, saying that his triumph could help “organise the world”.

“Corruption scandals, bad governance, human rights violations, organised crime, make-believe democracy with elections ‘for the English to see’*, diversions of public funds for private purposes, money laundering, the impoverishment of the people: all these harm the reputation of politics and politicians,” Soares remarked.

Venâncio Mondlane, deputy of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the third largest party, said he expected a different Donald Trump from the election campaign, with more contained language and a commitment to rigour in action.

“The language of the electoral campaign was part of the moment. I hope that now rigor and containment in the language will hold sway,” Mondlane said in statements to Radio Moçambique.

politicalpartiestrump — Ivone Soares, Edmundo Galiza Matos Junior, Venancio Mondlane

The United States announced a review of its bilateral support to Mozambique in May following the scandal of hidden debts in Mozambican public accounts.

The United States presents itself as “Mozambique’s largest bilateral donor”, with aid amounting to some US$400 million (EUR 365 million) annually, and claims to have spent more than US$6 billion (EUR 5.5 billion) since 1984 on development programs and the fight against high-impact diseases such as AIDS.

*”For the English to see” – This expression means make-believe, deceiving and dates from the 1830s, when England demanded that Brazil pass laws outlawing the slave trade. However, everyone knew that these laws would not be implemented, so these laws were passed, just “for the English to see”.

Source: Lusa