Renamo promises to fight for mayor Manuel de Araújo in Quelimane

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Renamo promises to fight for mayor Manuel de Araújo in Quelimane

2:09 CAT | 14 Jan 2019

in file CoM

Mozambique’s largest opposition party, Renamo, is unhappy with the latest developments in Quelimane, where mayor Manuel de Araújo may be barred from taking office in February as president of the Municipal Council, and says it will be “obliged to act” if the situation continues.

Interim Renamo leader Ossufo Momade clarified the party’s position during a press conference call in Zambézia on Saturday.

Friday’s ruling by the Administrative Court of Mozambique rejected the mayor’s appeal of against the loss of mandate decreed by the Council of Ministers in August last year.

The Council of Ministers on that occasion decreed that Araújo had resigned as Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) mayor of Quelimane when he decided to run as Renamo candidate for the same office.

The mayor appealed to the Administrative Court on the ground that he was not given the opportunity to defend himself and that the wrong law was applied in the case.

In the ruling handed down in Maputo on Friday, the Administrative Court dismissed Araújo’s appeal, and ordered him to pay the 10,000 meticais (about EUR 141.00) costs of the proceedings.

The ruling does not specify the effects on the new mandate that Araújo won in the municipal elections on October 10 last year and whose inauguration will happen in February, given that the appeal was about the mandate that the mayor had enjoyed since 2014.

In this sense, it is still not legally clear whether Araújo is entitled to take office for a new term as a result of his victory in the last municipal elections or if the Administrative Court ruling precludes it.

Renamo “will never give in to blackmail” by Frelimo

The administrative court ruling, dated December 21, is generating anger among members and sympathisers of Mozambican opposition’s largest party.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Renamo interim leader Ossufo Momade said he was unhappy that Araújo was barred from taking office in February as chairman of Quelimane Municipal Council.

In a teleconference, Ossufo Momade said that Frelimo had used a “devilish and satanic instrument, the Administrative Court”, to stop Araújo taking over.

“The future of democracy, peace and the democratic state is in the hands of the people. Renamo will never give in to this political blackmail,” he said. “Together with the citizens of Quelimane, we will not allow Frelimo to continue to hijack the electoral process.”

Controversial ruling on the proximity of the Congress

However, Araújo, the head of Renamo electoral list, said he was unaware of the Administrative Court ruling.

Momade says that the party will be forced to act if Araújo is prevented from taking office. “We will not tolerate this. The citizenry voted on who should govern them, and the Constitutional Council validated and proclaimed the Renamo victory. The sovereign will of the people will prevail,” he said .

Araújo’s inauguration is these days the main focus of conversations in the city of Quelimane. In tents and markets, residents argue about who will actually be president of the Municipal Council.

Momade’s statements regarding the Administrative Court’s ruling come just days before the start of the Renamo National Conference in Gorongosa next week.

Renamo spokesman José Manteigas said in Quelimane that conditions for the meeting were being met, and that Zambézia would be represented by about 100 members, who would witness the elevation of a new RENAMO leader in the stead of Afonso Dhlakama, who died in May last year.

For Manteigas, “one of the main points to be discussed by this National Conference is the October 10 municipal elections”. RENAMO, he added, would also “outline new strategies for this year’s general elections”.

Source: DW