MOZAMBIQUE: FLURRY OF FRELIMO MEETINGS IN MAPUTO;

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000551

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AF/S FOR HTREGER
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/05/2016
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL MZ
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: FLURRY OF FRELIMO MEETINGS IN MAPUTO;
PREPARATIONS FOR IX PARTY CONGRESS UNDERWAY

REF: A. MAPUTO 00278


B. MAPUTO 00415

C. 05 MAPUTO 00681

MAPUTO 00000551 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Ambassador Helen La Lime for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

Summary
--------------


1. (SBU) Mozambique's ruling party, FRELIMO, wrapped up a
week of intense party activity in advance of the Ninth
FRELIMO Party Congress, scheduled for November 10 - 14 in the
central provincial capital of Quelimane, Zambezia province.
Discussions focused around the fight against poverty and the
mobilization of the party machine in advance of the upcoming
electoral cycle, with provincial elections scheduled for
2007, municipal elections for 2008 and
presidential/legislative elections due in 2009. The
week-long series of meetings comes at a time when FRELIMO and
its leader, President Guebuza, face increased criticism from
the population. Meanwhile, the effort to play up FRELIMO's
visibility in government is growing. End Summary.

FRELIMO: Shifting into High Gear
--------------

2. (U) Mozambican President Armando Guebuza made several
appearances at a week-long series of high-level meetings of
the ruling FRELIMO party held between April 21 and April 30
in the cities of Maputo and neighboring Matola. This
marathon of FRELIMO party gatherings -- which included the
FRELIMO National Cadre Conference, a meeting of the FRELIMO
Youth Organization, an extraordinary session of the FRELIMO
Central Committee, and the Association of Veterans of the
National Liberation Struggle National Conference -- aimed to
mobilize and energize key party organs in advance of the
Ninth Party Congress scheduled for late this year.


3. (U) During his opening remarks at the National Cadre
Conference, Guebuza reminded party members that the main
purpose of the Congress would be to prepare the "entire party
machinery" to ensure a FRELIMO victory in the approaching
electoral cycle. (Note: Under the current timetable, the
first elections for Provincial Assemblies will be held in
late 2007, the third elections for Municipal Councils in late
2008, and the fourth multi-party Presidential and Legislative
elections in late 2009. End Note.) Guebuza also urged the
more than 1,600 FRELIMO cadres present at the three-day
conference to take an active role in the fight against
poverty by promoting such virtues as "self-esteem,
patriotism, and pride in being Mozambican."


4. (U) A similar message was echoed in Guebuza's remarks to
the Association of Veterans of the National Liberation
Struggle (ACLLN),where he urged this "important segment of
Mozambican society" to revisit its strategies to combat
poverty, stressing the example veterans can set in addressing
red tape, the spirit of apathy and drift ("deixa andar"),
corruption, and crime.

Party Congress Makes a Strategic Move
--------------


5. (SBU) At the April 26 close of the one-day extraordinary
meeting of the FRELIMO Central Committee, a powerful 160-plus
member party organ, it was announced that the Ninth FRELIMO
Party Congress would held in the central city of Quelimane,
the capital of Zambezia province, from November 10 - 14.
This is the first time since independence that the congress
will be outside the Maputo area and is a strategic move for
FRELIMO. Zambezia, the second most populous province in
Mozambique, has long been a stronghold of the main opposition
party RENAMO and is one of only two provinces where it
outpolled FRELIMO in the 2004 general elections.


6. (C) This move also comes at a time when RENAMO is facing
increased defections from its ranks. In early April, 12
RENAMO members in the northern province of Cabo Delgado
abandoned the party. One of them was Saide Assane, the
RENAMO candidate for mayor who was defeated in a highly
contested May 2005 by-election in the town on Mocimboa da
Praia (ref C). He has since joined the ranks of FRELIMO.
Though RENAMO claims Assane was offered a deal by FRELIMO
that would free him from prosecution for his role in the
September clashes in Mocimboa da Praia, no evidence of such
has been made public.

MAPUTO 00000551 002.2 OF 002



Grousing Behind the Scenes
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7. (C) This intense political activity on the part of FRELIMO
in advance of the upcoming electoral marathon comes at a time
when faith in the party may be slipping. Now more than a
year since Guebuza took office, some who believed he would
usher in improvements in their lives have grown
disillusioned. The increasing cost of living is sapping
enthusiasm for Guebuza's rhetoric. Despite some advances,
including a new procurement law that favors Mozambican
nationals, the decentralization of business licensing, the
allocation of seven billion meticais (approximately USD
280,000) to each of the country's 128 districts (ref B),and
the sacking of a few mid-level corrupt officials, many
Mozambicans, especially those in rural areas who make up the
majority of the electorate, probably do not notice these
improvements and instead are troubled by much more immediate
concerns due to the rising price of basic commodities such as
rice and bread and increasing transport costs.

Increasing FRELIMO Visibility in Government
--------------


8. (SBU) Those who followed the flurry of party gatherings
have warned that an increased subordination of government
policy to FRELIMO politics is on the horizon, as the party
machine begins its quest to reintegrate itself fully and
actively into government practices. In fact, "the role of
the party in government" is one of eight agenda items for
discussion at the upcoming Congress. Raul Domingos, leader
of one of the small opposition parties, PDD, in a
conversation with emboff warned that the trend was clearly
toward more and more dominance by FRELIMO. He cautioned that
the recent trips by President Guebuza into the provinces,
ostensibly government fact-finding tours, are also thinly
veiled efforts to boost FRELIMO's standing -- he noted that
the entourage usually includes non-government FRELIMO central
committee members, as well as ministers and their staff.
Separately, according to the press, in a recent stop in
Nampula province several ministers were introduced as senior
FRELIMO members first and then government officials second.
La Lime