- Unsurprisingly, Filipe Nyusi was re-elected yesterday (Sunday) President of Frelimo with 100% of the votes. A re-election that reflects the “unanimity” prevailing in the party that has governed Mozambique since national independence in 1975. A “unanimity” imposed through the culture of authoritarianism that marks Filipe Nyusi’s leadership in the fate of Frelimo and Mozambique. The repression of the fundamental freedoms of citizens that characterizes the Mozambican civic space is also felt within the ruling party.
The disciplinary process aimed at expelling Samora Machel Junior (son of the first President of independent Mozambique) for having tried to run for mayor of Maputo through the civic association list (AJUDEM), in the 2018 municipal elections; and more recently the rebuke by the Political Commission against Castigo Langa, a member of the Central Committee, who asked Filipe Nyusi to clarify the rumors of a third term, are just two examples that externalize the sedimentation of authoritarianism in Frelimo