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Frelimo debates
its leadership question
The very close election in 1999 and the announcement by President Joaquim Chissano that he does not want to stand again in 2004 has provoked substantial activity within Frelimo. The government has put a new emphasis on service delivery and on fighting petty corruption. Ministers and senior government and party officials are spending more time outside of Maputo, particularly in Nampula and the Zambeze River valley, to show their faces, to try to respond to local complaints, and in general to reverse the negative image of Frelimo which surprised senior party figures in 1999. So far, this seems to be winning a positive response.
Frelimo is holding its Congress in Maputo in June 2002, where it will elect a party president and candidate for national president in 2004. Frelimo has no clear procedures for electing a president. Its two previous presidents were murdered and a new president chosen quickly by senior party figures. A Central Committee meeting in December will begin the discussion of choosing the new president.
Frelimo needs someone who can keep the party together and win the next election. A meeting of party militants in September called on Chissano to reconsider his position and stand again. But many in the party feel that Chissano has acted in the wise tradition of Julius Nyerere; that he has made the right decision, and that new and more dynamic leadership is needed.
Frelimo has never lost an election and has no experience of opposition, but it is slowly becoming clear to the party that it will lose power in some municipalities in 2003 and may eventually be forced into opposition even at national level. Thus there are now initial informal discussions of how to keep a party machine operational in opposition. This question also informs the ongoing discussion about revising the constitution, with some in Frelimo wanting to shift some power from president to parliament while retaining a presidential system.
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Dutch party support
The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy is now one of the most important supporters of Mozambican political parties. The Institute is a foundation created by seven Dutch parties, and is starting the second year of a three-year $1.5 million programme in Mozambique. Money is for capacity and party-building, but not for salaries, equipment or campaigning. Parties are told how much money is available, ranging in the first year from $5000 for small parties up to $40,000 for the two large parties, and they must present proposals on how to spend the money. After the money is spent, they must provide reports and accounts. In the first year, Renamo spent its Dutch money on provincial conferences and part of the cost of its Congress. Frelimo used the money for five regional conferences. Some of the smaller parties are making use of the money to help build their party organisations.
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Looking to local elections
After having ignored municipal elections in 1998, opposition forces are taking the 2003 elections very seriously. They realise the 33 cities and towns with elected mayors and assemblies have real power. Thus they can provide political and management experience for party members and they have real patronage potential to give jobs to party members. For the smaller parties and the non-party opposition, municipalities also provide a chance to build a political base in a few places without being overstretched by trying to cover the entire country.
Máximo Dias, secretary-general of MONAMO, said recently that the party would only stand in some municipalities, perhaps as few as two, and it was looking at surveys in Nampula and Zambézia provinces to find the municipalities where it would have the most potential. He said MONAMO was also talking about reactivating its coalition with two other parties, which would allow a presence in a few more municipal elections.
For his part, Raul Domingos has been touring the country recruiting members for his citizens movement IPAD, which he created after being expelled from Renamo. Under the legislation in force in 1998, and likely to be continued for 2003, non-party citizens' lists are permitted to stand (in contrast to national elections, where independent presidential candidates are permitted, but only registered parties can present parliamentary lists). Thus IPAD could put forward candidates in 2003.
And the Renamo Congress confirmed that the party's priority for 2002 will be preparing for the local elections. In 1998, Renamo boycotted local elections.
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Parties need local base to survive
Political parties must be active at local level if they are to survive in a multi-party system in which periodic elections lead to alternation between government and opposition, warned two members of the Portuguese parliament at an AWEPA seminar for political parties on 20-22 November.
In less than three decades of multi-partyism in Portugal (where under the dictatorship until 1974 political parties were forbidden) both major parties have held power for an uninterrupted period of about a decade, with the other being the main opposition party during that period. The two MPs stressed that when you are forced into opposition at national level, you can still have party members who are mayors (Presidente do Conselho Municipal) in some cities and have majorities on some local assemblies. In the experience of the speakers, voters do not judge parties only by their performance in national government or parliamentary opposition, but also by service delivery and sound policies at local level.
An example was cited from Portugal in the 1980s when a new party formed around a strong and popular leader won parliamentary seats, but was swept away at the next elections because it existed only in parliament and the capital, and had no local offices or cadres and was never seen at community level. This happened to the UD in 1999 in Mozambique.
Finally, the Portuguese MPs cited the importance of local government for gaining training and experience in politics and management.
It was clear at the seminar that many parties recognise the importance of municipal government and are planning to participate in the next local elections. This will therefore be an important focus of the AWEPA programme. Other focuses will be the strengthening of women's and youth leagues and the participation of women in party politics and local government. National and provincial cadres from Frelimo, Renamo and 23 smaller parties participated in the seminar, funded by Ireland.
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