Renamo postpones national council meeting

Maputo, 27 Feb (AIM) – Mozambique’s former rebel movement, Renamo, has postponed a meeting of its National Council that had been scheduled for 7-8 March.

Announcing the postponement at a Maputo press conference on Wednesday, the Renamo national spokesperson, Marcial Macome, gave no reason for the postponement and announced no new date for the meeting.

Questioned by the journalists, Macome would only say that Renamo leader Ossufo Momade had decided on the postponement “for weighty reasons”.

In January, Macome had announced that the National Council meeting would be held in Vilanculo, in Inhambane province. Vilanculo is the only municipality in southern Mozambique which is governed by Renamo.

The National Council, the most powerful body in Renamo after the Congress, should meet at least twice a year.

Some Renamo members hope to use the National Council meeting to force Momade’s resignation. He is blamed for Renamo’s poor showing in the general elections held on 9 October, when Renamo lost its position as runner-up, becoming the third most voted party.

This means that Momade has lost his place on the Council of State, a body that advises the President of the Republic. A seat on the Council is reserved for the runner-up in presidential elections, and the runner-up last October was Venancio Mondlane.

Mondlane had attempted to stand as the Renamo candidate, and when the party leadership rejected him, he resigned from Renamo, taking with him a large number of Renamo voters.

Some Renamo members want to heal the rift and bring Mondlane back into the party, a matter that will certainly be discussed at the National Council. Prospects are slim, however, since Mondlane says he is preparing to set up his own political party.
(AIM)
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