Frelimo has delayed until May its special Central Committee to choose its presidential candidate. There are major divisions within the party, no short list and no obvious front-runner. Legal action by Venâncio Mondlane forced Renamo head Ossufo Momade to agree a party congress on 15-16 May to choose a candidate.
Momade is seen as a weak leader, but he controls the party machine.. He is challenged by Mondlane, who gained the most votes to be mayor of Maputo but was denied victory by the Constitutional Council, and Elias Dhlakama, the brother of former party leader Afonso Dhlakama. Mondlane is seen as younger, more electable, and not linked to the 1980s war. Dhlakama has support of some former guerrillas.
Ossufo Momade said for the first time Wednesday, in an interview on CIPCast, that he will run again for the presidency of Renamo for another five years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSrHRbxcSEU). He says next May’s congress will prove that he still enjoys the support of Renamo members and that the “parrots” – a clear reference to Venâncio Mondlane and Elias Dhlakama – are wrong.