The president of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the largest opposition force, said this Wednesday that the number of candidates for the party’s leadership is an “unequivocal” sign of internal democracy.
“We are pleased to note that we have many candidates for the party presidency, which is an eloquent and unequivocal sign of internal democracy,” Ossufo told Momade during the opening of the Renamo congress, which began today and runs until Thursday.
The seventh congress of the largest opposition party is taking place in Alto Molocue, in Zambezia, a province in central Mozambique, with about 700 representatives expected to elect a new Renamo president from among nine candidates.
Ossufo Momade is contesting the leadership with Elias Dhlakama, brother of the party’s historical leader (Afonso Dhlakama), Ivone Soares, MP and former head of the parliamentary panel, André Magibire, former secretary general, Anselmo Vitor, head of training, and Alfredo Magumisse, member of the political commission.
Juliano Picardo, president of the Tete provincial council, Pedro Murema, member of the Maputo provincial council, and Hermínio Morais, member of the political commission, are also on the list of candidates for the leadership of Renamo.
Lawmaker Venancio Mondlane also put forward his candidacy for the Renamo presidency but was dropped from the list because he did not meet the requirements for the position, party spokesman José Manteigas told Lusa on Tuesday.
In April, Renamo’s national council approved the profile of a candidate for the party’s leadership, demanding among its requirements 15 years of continuous activity from candidates, which is not the case in the case of Venancio Mondlane, who only became a militant in 2018.
“I wish all the candidates good luck,” said Ossufo Momade, who led the party after the death of Afonso Dhlakama in 2018.
The current leader of Renamo clarified that the party is not obliged to hold a congress, saying that such a decision was made on January 25 by the political commission of this formation.
On February 23, Venancio Mondlane, Renamo deputy and candidate for the municipality of Maputo in last October’s elections, presented two precautionary measures against Ossufo Momade, demanding, in one, the setting of a date for the congress, and in the other, the cancellation of dismissals allegedly carried out outside the mandate, which ended on January 17th.
On the day of the trial (March 22), Simone Macuane, Renamo’s lawyer, announced the dates for the congress at the Maputo Judicial Court, as part of an agreement with deputy Venancio Mondlane.
“We have reached an agreement on the schedule of the congress. The Renamo congress will take place from May 15 to 16,” Simone Macuane told the judge in the preventive measures case brought by Mondlan at the time.
According to Ossufo Momade, the party is guided by its charter and not by “blackmail and hidden agendas,” citing an alleged “current of discord” that led to the understanding that planning for the congress was forced.
“Don’t come and teach us about democracy because we are the fathers of democracy,” Momade added.
The party’s current leader has been subject to external and internal criticism for his alleged inaction in the face of alleged irregularities in Mozambique’s municipal elections last October, and has also been accused of negligence regarding the situation of party guerrillas demobilized in light of peace. agreement with the Government.
Mozambique will hold general elections on October 9, including a presidential election in which current President Filipe Nyusi will no longer be able to contest the election as he has reached the constitutional limit of two terms.
After the presidential election, Renamo will have to clarify which candidate it will support for the presidency of the republic in the October elections, which, as a rule, is the party leader.