For the second consecutive day, the Central Committee of Mozambique’s Frelimo ruling party has thwarted the wishes of the party and country president, Filipe Nyusi.
Nyusi is set to step down in January 2025, when his second constitutional five-year term ends. The party is currently meeting at an extraordinary Central Committee meeting, in Maputo, to choose his successor and flag bearer at the October 2024 presidential elections.
On Saturday evening, Nyusi interrupted the Central Committee session when the plenary failed to reach an agreement on the shortlist of potential candidates vying to become Frelimo’s presidential candidate.
On Friday, Nyusi had submitted a shortlist with three names on behalf of the party’s Political Commission. Included in the shortlist are the current Frelimo Secretary-General, Roque Silva, Damião José, a member of the Political Commission, and Daniel Chapo, governor of the southern province of Inhambane.
However, the Central Committee forced the inclusion of new names in the list – last night, Nyusi had agreed with the Central Committee’s wishes.
But on Saturday, Nyusi went back on his decision and insisted that the Central Committee should instead consider the list the Political Commission had submitted on Friday. The suggestion was met with immediate backlash and opprobrium and after hours of heated debate, Nyusi seemed to agree on including new names.
In the end, the Central Committee is said to have ended up with eight names to be considered by the Political Commission. To this, Nyusi decided to call it a day to enable the Political Commission to analyse the new list.
As such, all members of the Central Committee will meet on Sunday for the third day running to get a chance to vote on their choice.
Comment
Nyusi’s flip-flopping on the addition of more names to the ballot is not endearing him to large sections of the 253-strong Central Committee body, which is the party’s highest body between congresses.
What seems to be driving his stance is the realisation that his preferred candidate, Roque Silva, might not garner enough votes in the Central Committee if more names are added to the initial list. So Nyusi would desire to impose the Political Commission shortlist on the Central Committee.
Observers point out that Nyusi’s strategy would involve pushing the initial shortlist onto the Central Committee members and then having the other two names, Chapo and José, withdraw from the race, allowing Silva to run unopposed.
But the members will not hear of it; they want more candidates contesting for the prized spot of Frelimo’s presidential candidate. Hence the impasse!
Silva is a hated figure within the Central Committee, particularly for the way he has disrespected the members, and the authoritarian manner in which he manages the party’s secretariat. Indeed, Silva’s management has left a lot to be desired, driving the party further away from the people and membership.
Silva is tethered to Nyusi and both might exit the political scene with no glory.
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