Mozambique Elections: Venâncio Mondlane promises to reform ‘Babylonian’ state

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Mozambique Elections: Venâncio Mondlane promises to reform ‘Babylonian’ state

10:24 CAT | 19 Aug 2024

Photo: Luisa Nhantumbo/Lusa

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called the Mozambican state ‘Babylonian’ on Monday, saying that if he is elected president in the 9 October elections, he will reform and dismantle it as a first measure.

‘Our state is not a normal state, it’s a Babylonian state, so we need to convert the Babylonian state of Mozambique into a normal state,’ the presidential candidate said in an interview with Lusa news agency in Maputo.

If elected in the October vote, Venâncio Mondlane promised to reform the Mozambican state and governance as his first measure as president, transforming it into a state that ‘doesn’t depend on a political party and alliances’, but is based on the law and the Constitution of the Republic.

Mondlane also wants Mozambique to be a truly republican state governed by democratic law: ‘After that, we will do everything for education, health, the armed forces, tourism, culture, the arts, the press, the media and everything else.’

Considering himself the ‘most handsome candidate in the history of Mozambique,’ Venâncio Mondlane, 50, also spoke of the other five pillars of his governance project, which include sustainable economic development, human and social development, national reconciliation, modernisation of the defence of sovereignty, and the fight against organised crime.

The politician, one of four running for the presidency, also defended the need for a referendum on the powers of the head of state, considering them excessive, and the revision of the Constitution of the Republic, introducing two new fundamental rights: ‘the right to drink water (…) and child nutrition, especially in primary education’.

The candidate is also committed to rescuing the homeland, saying that he is the only one with a proven track record of fighting for the Mozambican people compared to the other contenders.

‘I’m the only candidate who has already given up various benefits and perks to defend the people and his homeland. I’m the only candidate who has already given up two terms in parliament,’ he said, inviting his opponents to a face-to-face meeting.

Mondlane, who was a candidate for the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) in the 2023 municipal elections in Maputo, abandoned the party he had been a member of since 2018 – and the position of MP to which he had been elected – after failing to run for the leadership of the largest opposition party at the congress held in May.

After moments of tension with Renamo, in which Venâncio took the party to court, the candidate says that he now maintains a cordial relationship with that political formation, with respect for the democratic political space of both.

‘My relationship with Renamo is normalising (…). At the moment, I can’t complain about Renamo, but I can’t say we’re in a loving relationship either; we haven’t reached that level. At least there is mutual respect for each other’s space,’ he said.

Venâncio Mondlane is running for the presidency of Mozambique alongside Daniel Chapo, supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), Ossufo Momade, supported by Renamo, and Lutero Simango, supported by the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), the third parliamentary force.

Asked about his political career over the next five years if he is not elected in October, and given that he will not also be a member of parliament due to the exclusion of the Democratic Alliance Coalition (CAD), whose list for Maputo in parliament, he was leading, Venâncio Mondlane said that he would continue to do his civic work.

‘My political, civic and social life is not dependent on an electoral cycle. My purpose in this world is far beyond an election every five years,’ concluded the candidate.

Mozambique is holding general elections on 9 October, including presidential, legislative and provincial elections.

The current president, Filipe Nyusi, will not be running in the elections because he has already reached the constitutional limit of two terms in office.

Source: Lusa