Maputo, 23 May (AIM) – Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, on Wednesday announced the new composition of its National Council, National Political Commission and Jurisdictional Council, in the wake of the party’s congress held in the central municipality of Alto Molocue last weekend.
The National Council has 120 members and meets infrequently. The National Political Commission is a much slimmer body, consisting of 14 people, and chaired by the Renamo President Ossufo Momade. It is responsible for much of the day to day running of the party.
The Jurisdictional Council, which deals with legal and statutory matters is chaired by Arnaldo Chalaua, who is also spokesperson for the Renamo parliamentary group.
The Renamo national spokesperson, Jose Manteigas, announced the lists of names at a Maputo press conference on Wednesday. The composition of the party’s main bodies was approved at the Congress, he said.
The Congress also approved the general lines of the Renamo election manifesto, which will guide the party in the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, scheduled for 9 October. Manteigas said main themes of the manifesto will include peace, as the guarantee of social stability and development; youth, as the guarantee of the country’s future; and de-politicising the Mozambican state.
“Our Congress was an example of democracy”, he claimed. “The success and the objectives we achieved are the fruit of the work of the members, sympathisers and partners of the party, and so here and now we want to recognize and thank them for all their support”.
He confirmed that Ossufo Momade with be the Renamo candidate in the October presidential election. Manteigas said that Momade’s main opponent, Venancio Mondlane, who had been the Renamo candidate for Mayor of Maputo in last year’s municipal elections, was “trapped in the past”.
Asked about Mondlane’s declared intention to run as an independent in the presidential election, Manteigas said “this is a personal matter that has nothing to do with Renamo”.
In fact, it has opened deep fault lines in Renamo, with reports from several parts of the country of supporters of Mondlane resigning from Renamo, handing back their membership cards and even their party T-shirts.
Manteigas simply declared that Momade “was elected democratically and has the legitimacy to lead Renamo for the next five years”.
(AIM)
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