Good afternoon. Two speeches made by President Daniel Chapo at the end of last week illustrate the political dilemma in which he finds himself. Chapo spoke at the national conference of his ruling Frelimo party’s youth organisation, and also in Bobole, Maputo province, during his official visit to the province. On both occasions he referred to the elections held in October last year, where he was declared the winner of the presidential election and Frelimo the winner of the parliamentary election, despite widespread and large-scale fraud in favour of them both. Chapo nevertheless insisted that Frelimo had won the elections, and that his main challenger for the presidency, Venâncio Mondlane, had lost. The nationwide protests that broke out after the elections were, Chapo insisted, orchestrated by “far-right” foreign political movements that threatened not only Frelimo but also other so-called liberation parties in Africa, like the ANC in South Africa and MPLA in Angola (there were protests in the Angolan capital Luanda at the weekend, but they were caused by discontent over a rise in fuel prices rather than a foreign conspiracy).
The full Daily Briefing continues below for Pro subscribers. Subscribers to the Zitamar News tier can read the top half, including the full leader article, here.
The latest from Zitamar News:
Fernando Lima
It is not the first time Chapo has tried to blame unspecified foreign actors for the unpopularity of Frelimo. His speeches may have pleased hardliners in Frelimo, the kind of people who think that the party which fought for Mozambican independence has the right to rule the country permanently. But they might well be provocative to other people. There can hardly be a more inflammatory subject to bring up in Mozambique today than last year’s disputed elections, considering the scale and violence of the protests that they triggered. True, the protests were about Frelimo’s bad government as well as election fraud, but in any case, it is a very sensitive topic. So why raise it now, nine months after the elections and several months after the protests died down?
