Decades ago, Mozambique’s liberation party, Frelimo, easily attracted admirers. In this southern African country racked by racist rule, the Portuguese colonizers’ promises of salvation and a life of jobs and housing for all were easily accepted.
But when Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo becomes president on Wednesday, he will face a country more dissatisfied with his party than at any time in the country’s 50 years of independence. Millions of people took to the streets after the October election, which was harshly criticized as fraudulent by voters, international observers, opposition leaders and human rights groups.
The country of 33 million people has been in political chaos since the referendum. Analysts say that now, Mozambique faces an urgent economic and social crisis, and FRELIMO’s control of power is being tested as never before. Two of the three opposition parties boycotted Monday’s opening of parliament.
Voter anger has erupted into massive street protests and clashes with police over the past few months. At least 300 people were killed.
El Chapo and his party may hope Wednesday’s inauguration will help move the country toward reconciliation and stability. Instead, politicians say the challenges facing FRELIMO’s leadership may be just beginning.
“Frelimo has become accustomed to seeing itself as the chosen party,” said Gabriel Muthisse, a former senior party official who remains an active member. “They think elections are just a way for the people to confirm their leadership. Over the past five, ten years, that has been proven wrong.
In the capital Maputo last week, police responded with deadly force as supporters took to the streets to greet top opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who has returned to Mozambique after self-imposed exile. The fervent populist has won over disaffected young voters who see him as an ally in the fight against corrupt political elites.
Mondlane, who claimed to have won the election, called for protests to continue, although this week did not trigger the massive demonstrations that led to lockdowns in the capital and other cities in previous months.
Mondlane said in an interview in Maputo that he communicated with El Chapo through a mutual friend. He expressed hope that the president-elect would be able to negotiate a solution to end the political crisis and accept the reforms he proposed in his latest proposal. The reforms include building 3 million homes for poor Mozambicans and establishing a $500 million fund for start-ups led by women and young people.
“You have to give people something very important and tangible,” Mr. Mondelein said. “I don’t know if all the items in my proposal will be met. But I think we will start a platform for dialogue.
He added that protests were still necessary because to ensure reforms were implemented, “you have to put pressure on the government.”
El Chapo, 48, became Frelimo’s surprise presidential candidate last year. Unlike others in his party, he did not lobby for the nomination. He has been in public office only 10 years, but has long since confronted the country’s troubled political history.
He said that when he was 5 years old, his family was kidnapped by guerrillas fighting Frelimo during Mozambique’s 16-year civil war. He is a lawyer by training and a former provincial governor. He ran for president for the first time as a member of Frelimo last year.
Branquinho João da Costa, a 43-year-old part-time doctor living in Maputo, recalls his primary school days, when the song “Liberty” sang the glory of Frelimo instilled in him and his classmates. “It is very difficult to completely break away from FRELIMO,” he said.
Many Mozambicans are now unhappy with the party, accusing it of corruption and failure to address rising prices, which he calls “a new form of enslavement of the people”. Da Costa said the Frelimo of his childhood was closer to the party’s socialist roots and was led by officials who cared less about wealth and power.
“Frelimo’s real goal is to serve the people,” he said. “Now many of them are fighting to gain political status just to steal from us.”
Some party members said Frelimo could no longer ignore the criticism. Alsácia Sardinha says the past few months have been a warning.
“We have to reinvent ourselves to meet the needs of our people,” she said. She added that this reinvention includes the party monitoring its own government to prevent wrongdoing.
Mutis, a former Frelimo official, said parliament could no longer introduce rubber-stamp laws introduced by the president. He said the party needed to focus on reforming institutions such as the electoral commission and courts to regain public trust.
Mutis said the reform should be at the center of negotiations with the opposition.
“Everyone has to come up with ideas,” he said, “so that in the next election, we all believe in it.”
