Guebuza resigns after Mozambique power struggle
Guebuza resigns;
Nyusi heads party & state
After a three month power struggle between Armando Guebuza as president of Frelimo and Filipe Nyusi as president of Mozambique, Guebuza unexpectedly resigned today (Sunday) as head of the party. It was the final day of the meeting of the Central Committee meeting, which then elected Nyusi as party president.
Guebuza had clearly intended to remain, and he opened Central Committee meeting Thursday in a combative way. He attacked those who criticised him as party members who wanted to “generate division and confusion among us”. and weaken the party.
Jorge Rebelo, former information minister and still a rspected member of the Frelimo old guard, was interviewed on the independent TV station STV on Thursday evening after the speech. He accused Guebuza, of “seeking to intimidate members of the Central Committee so that they don’t debate relevant matters”. He said Guebuza “is not open to discussion [and] blocks and represses debate, and now people are afraid of speaking up”. He called on members of the Central Committee “is to speak up, and not just applaud”. (AIM, CanalMoz, O Pais)
Rebelo clearly reflected the mood within Frelimo, where party members were becoming increasingly outspoken in their criticism of Guebuza's attempt to hold on to power. It had been repeatedly pointed out that in just the same situation, when Guebuza was elected president of Mozambique but former president Joaquim Chissano was still president of the party, that Chissano resigned at the start of the first Central Committee meeting in 2005. Guebuza apparently did not intend to follow that example, but came under pressure at the Central Committee meeting and finally stood down this morning.
Frelimo spokesperson Damiao Jose said Guebuza’s announcement “took the members of the Central Committee by surprise [but] after consulting some party comrades, he reached the conclusion that now was the appropriate moment to resign”. Guebuza will remain a member of the Frelimo Political Commission. This afternoon Nyusi was elected unopposed as party president
Comment
More open government
Filipe Nyusi has started his presidency with a new, more open style of meetings including former key officials. These are not traditional meetings in which leaders hand down instructions, but much more open discussions in which people are free to speak and debate.
On Wednesday he chaired a meeting of ministers, vice-ministers, and present and former directors to discuss energy. The previous Wednesday he met with civil society leaders to talk about the tensions with Renamo.
Nyusi has also instructed ministers to hold similar meetings. Education Minister Jorge Ferrão held a meeting on 25 February with most former ministers of education as well as present teachers and others, in which there was strong criticism of low salaries, poor quality teaching, and other issues.
Nyusi had already put diplomats at ease in meetings by not lecturing them, but instead asking for their opinions. His shirtsleeve meetings with Afonso Dhlakama set a different tone. And his agreement with Dhlakama to have a parliamentary debate about Renamo's calls for decentralisation seemed so radical that Guebuza tried to organise the Political Commission to oppose it.
It is early days; the President and his ministers are still new. However, so far, Nyusi is proving to be his own man. jh
MOZAMBIQUE 283
News reports & clippings
29 March 2015
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Editor: Joseph Hanlon ( j.hanlon@open.ac.uk)
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