Mozambique is at a crossroads as the new president is sworn in

Decades ago, Mozambique’s liberation party, Frelimo, easily attracted crowds of admirers. The promise of deliverance from Portuguese colonialists, and a life of work and housing for all, was easy in apartheid South Africa.

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. Tens of thousands of people He went out into the street After the October elections, which were strongly criticized by voters, international observers, opposition leaders and human rights groups as fraudulent.

The country has a population of 33 million people ravaged by political chaos Since the vote. Analysts say that Frelimo’s grip on power is now being tested as never before at a time when Mozambique faces urgent economic and social crises. Two of the three opposition parties boycotted the opening of Parliament on Monday.

Anger among voters has exploded in huge street protests in the past few months that have led to clashes with police. At least 300 people were killed.

Mr. Chapo and his party likely hoped that Wednesday’s inauguration would help move the country toward reconciliation and stability. Instead, political insiders say the challenges facing Frelimo’s leadership may have only just begun.

“Frelimo used to see itself as the party of choice,” said Gabriel Mutis, a former senior party official who is still an active member. They believed that elections were just a formality for the people to assert their leadership. Over the past five or ten years, things have shown that this is not true.

Last week, police in the capital, Maputo, responded with lethal force when supporters took to the streets to greet prominent opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who… He returned to Mozambique After self-imposed exile. The fiery populist has received support Disaffected young voters Who consider him an ally in their battle against the corrupt political elite.

Mondlane, who claims to have won the election, called for the protests to continue, although this week has not seen the massive demonstrations that shut down the capital and other cities in previous months.

In an interview in Maputo, Mr. Mondlane said he contacted Mr. Chapo through a mutual friend. He expressed his hope that the president-elect would negotiate a solution to end the political crisis and accept the reforms he proposed in his latest proposal. These reforms include building three million homes for poor Mozambicans and creating a half-billion-dollar fund for women- and youth-led startups.

“You have to give people something very important and something tangible,” Mr. Mondlane said. “I don’t know whether all the elements in my proposal will be met or not. But I think we will start a platform for dialogue.”

He added that there is still a need for protests, because to ensure reforms happen, “the government must be put under pressure.”

Chapo, 48, emerged last year as a surprise presidential candidate for the Frelimo party. Unlike others in the party, he did not push for the nomination. He took public office only ten years ago, but has long faced the country’s turbulent political history.

When he was five years old, he said, his family was kidnapped by guerrilla forces fighting Frelimo during Mozambique’s 16-year civil war. A lawyer by training, he served as a regional governor before running for president for the first time last year as a member of the Frelimo party.

Branquinho João da Costa, a 43-year-old doctor who lives part-time in Maputo, remembers his primary school days when the glory of Frelimo was etched into himself and his classmates through freedom songs. “It is very difficult to completely break away from Frelimo,” he said.

Many Mozambicans now resent the party over accusations of corruption and its failure to address rising prices, which he described as “a new kind of slavery of the people.” Mr. da Costa said that Frelimo’s childhood party was more in touch with the party’s socialist roots, and at the time was led by officials less concerned with wealth and power.

“Frelimo’s real purpose was to serve people,” he said. “Now, many of them are fighting for political positions just to steal from us.”

Some party members say Frelimo no longer has the luxury of ignoring such criticism. The past few months have served as a warning, said Alassia Sardinha, who was sworn in this week for her third term as a member of parliament for the Frelimo party.

“We have to reinvent ourselves to respond to people’s demands,” she said. She added that this process of reinvention includes the party monitoring its government against violations.

Mr Mutis, a former Frelimo party official, said parliament could no longer approve laws put forward by the president. He added that the party needs to focus on reforming institutions, such as the electoral commission and the courts, in order to regain public confidence.

Mr Muthesi said this reform should be at the heart of negotiations with the opposition.

He said: “Everyone must present ideas, so that we can all believe in the upcoming elections.”