VZCZCXRO7225
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #0318 0750742
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160742Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7003
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP  0177

UNCLAS MAPUTO 000318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR HTREGER 
MCC FOR SGAULL 
USAID FOR AFR/SA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV MZ
SUBJECT: Mozambique - Opposition Parties Complain of Growing FRELIMO 
Power 
 
Ref: 06 Maputo 1497 
 
06 Maputo 1306 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Emboffs called on opposition leaders in early 
March, while making the rounds of Mozambican contacts for the 
Mission's newly-arrived poloff.  A common theme was resentment 
towards FRELIMO's increasing assertiveness and hand wringing that 
they were relatively powerless to do anything about it.  They 
pointed to more prominence given the ruling party in government 
affairs, a plan to gerrymander the municipality of the opposition 
stronghold of Beira (Mozambique's second city) to weaken RENAMO, and 
how it was becoming harder to find (or hold) employment when linked 
to the opposition.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Lutero Simango, a deputy in the RENAMO-UE coalition, 
complained that the government tapped its resources to fly FRELIMO 
deputies around the country, whether for government work or 
politicking.  His party, on the other hand, was starved for funds, 
which meant that most RENAMO delegates remained in the capital of 
Maputo rather than visiting constituents in the countryside.  The 
mayor of Beira, Daviz Simango (Lutero's brother), at a reception 
several days later, told emboff that he believed press reports that 
the government was planning to revise boundaries in the municipality 
of Beira to strip off outlying suburbs known to support RENAMO, so 
that the city would more likely fall to FRELIMO in 2008 municipal 
elections.  He added that he had seen none of the $250,000 President 
Guebuza said had been allocated to each district in the country to 
fund local initiatives.  Being an opposition mayor was "very hard," 
he lamented.  (Comment:  Despite his city's funding troubles because 
of its non-FRELIMO status, Simango remains very popular in Beira. 
End Comment.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) Maximo Diaz, outspoken lawyer and leader of MONAMO, the 
"first peaceful opposition party", as he refers to it, which he 
founded in 1992 right after the Rome Peace Agreement ended the civil 
war between FRELIMO and RENAMO, told emboffs that many of President 
Guebuza's ideas originated with him and his advisers, without their 
getting any credit.  Meanwhile support for MONAMO was drying up, 
with membership dropping to "probably no more than 2,000 members." 
He said he would be turning 70 years old in several weeks time and 
talked much more of the past than the future.  Cynically, he 
remarked that maybe "Africa was not ready for democracy; perhaps 
countries had to go through the monarchy stage first." 
 
¶4. (SBU) Raul Domingos, former #2 in RENAMO who founded the PDD 
party in 2002 and unsuccessfully ran for president in 2004 (PDD came 
in third, after FRELIMO and RENAMO, but garnered only about 2.5 
percent of the votes), told emboffs that what most worried him was 
the increased prominence given to FRELIMO party cells in government 
institutions by President Guebuza.  He reported that FRELIMO had a 
cell in every department of every ministry, that government organs 
throughout the country follow suit, and that Guebuza was using the 
cells to pressure employees to belong to the party.  (Comment: Party 
cells were important during the Samora Machel era in the 1970's and 
1980's, but of not much significance under Machel's successor, 
President Chissano, after the government adopted a new constitution 
in 1990 that provided for a multi-party state.  End comment.)  As an 
example, he said that several weeks earlier the woman who had run a 
highly effective PDD campaign in Beira had resigned for "family and 
social reasons" (he showed emboffs a copy of her resignation 
letter).  He believed that her husband, who worked in the state 
sector, had come under pressure because of his wife's activities and 
would have lost his job had she not quit.  Domingos added that 
several PDD members in the provinces had been arrested late last 
year for holding a political meeting, and were only released, 
without any formal charges, one month later when he protested 
personally on their behalf. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment: There is no question that the Guebuza 
administration is actively trying to increase FRELIMO's power and 
influence throughout Mozambique.  This has been a focus of Guebuza's 
since he was chosen by the party to succeed Chissano back in 2002, 
two years before the 2004 elections.  There has been a steady 
trickle of reports in the media of mid-to-low level opposition 
figures switching to FRELIMO (almost certainly because of better job 
prospects as party members rather than ideology) since Guebuza took 
office in February 2005.  The opposition figures' charges track what 
we have heard from other sources, especially over the last year (see 
reftels).  On March 15 and 16 the FRELIMO Central Committee is 
meeting in a Maputo suburb to plan for the upcoming provinciQ 
elections.  Every cabinet minister and every governor, reportedly, 
is in attendance.  We will report on the outcome of the meeting 
septel. 
 
Johnson