Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo held its primary elections two weekends ago to elect the 65 heads of lists (mayoral candidates) for the forthcoming municipal elections.
Last Thursday evening, Frelimo held an event in the northern Nampula province in which it presented the 65 heads of lists to its members and the nation through hours of television in the publicly-owned Televisão de Moçambique (TVM).
Meanwhile, grassroot Frelimo supporters in the municipality of Catandica, in the Báruè district, in the central province of Manica, have been taking to the streets to demonstrate against the election of Pedro Mazonde. Instead, the supporters want the current mayor Domingos Cassuada Tuboi to be reinstated as head of list in the October elections.
The demonstrations have forced the deputy-head of the Frelimo central brigade for Manica province to swiftly travel to Catandica in order to quell the dissent.
Comment
Frelimo seems to be at crossroads with the party being taken over by conflicting groups at the local level. These groups vie against each other over resources and opportunities. These groups pay lip service to the guidelines coming from the centre, and start acting like autonomous bodies.
It is little wonder that such groups might fight a candidate imposed on them by the party’s chairperson and Secretary-General, Filipe Nyusi and Roque Silva, respectively. This seems to be what happened in Catandica with the grassroots reacting negatively to the orders emanating from Frelimo’s Political Commission, controlled by Nyusi and Silva.
Nyusi and Silva seem to have concluded that it is imperative that they appoint their own candidates to head the lists in order to forestall any erosion of power, and not having enough political backing to withstand and manage the forthcoming elections, as well as the complicated internal situation.
The calculus is that by controlling the grassroots and the municipalities, Nyusi and his cronies can strengthen themselves to withstand any attempts at dislodging them from power.
They must contend with various actors who can thwart their plans, chiefly former President Armando Guebuza’s allies or other actors in the line of succession, who by now might have secured their own internal support.
Furthermore, Nyusi and his clique will have to mould Frelimo in their own image in order to secure enough political support post-2025 – when constitutionally, a new president is sworn in – in order to avoid and prevent any future witch-hunts as happened to Guebuza.
However, with no dates for the discussion of the issue of succession, not only do the various factions vying for presidential power mount attacks against each, but anti-Nyusi groups and members are likely to increase.
Meanwhile, Nyusi seems to have decided it is best to go all the way rather than negotiate a way out.
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