PARTY-VOTER DISCONNECT ENGENDERS GRASSROOT CHANGE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000919

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/23/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL MZ
SUBJECT: PARTY-VOTER DISCONNECT ENGENDERS GRASSROOT CHANGE

REF: A. MAPUTO 846

B. MAPUTO 901

C. MAPUTO 791

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Todd C. Chapman for Reasons 1.4(b) and
(d)


1. (U) SUMMARY: There are indications that democracy may be
taking greater hold at the grassroots level in Mozambique.
The refusal of both major political parties to support the
re-election of popular mayors in Maputo and Beira, the
country's two largest cities, may be a serious
miscalculation. Supporters of one incumbent, in an exercise
of democratic process, easily gathered more than enough
signatures to place his name on the ballot. An increase in
the number of mayoral elections, where personal knowledge of
local officials and their campaign promises leads to greater
accountability at the ballot box, gives local democracy
credibility. Leadership skills and democratic practices are
honed in District Councils which determine the local
distribution of funds received from the national government.
Coupled with the apparent disconnect between the major
parties and voters, these recent developments certainly make
the upcoming municipal elections more interesting to watch;
their outcome will be a helpful gauge with which to measure
the state of Mozambican democracy, which seems to be
developing, albeit slowly, from the grassroots up. END
SUMMARY.

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BOTH PARTIES ABANDON POPULAR MAYORS
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2. (C) In strikingly similar actions, both major
political parties in Mozambique, FRELIMO and RENAMO, recently
declined to support highly popular mayors for re-election.
FRELIMO's refusal to nominate incumbent Maputo Mayor Eneias
Comiche (ref A) may be based in his refusal to support
corruption schemes favored by senior party members. One
Mozambican contact reported that Comiche was sacked when he
refused to provide a building permit to the wealthy and
politically connected Mohammed Bashir, a wealthy local
businessman allegedly involved in the local drug trade.
RENAMO party leader Alfonso Dhlakama purportedly made the
decision personally not to nominate Daviz Simango in
Beira--the sole major RENAMO city stronghold (ref B)--with
the goal of eliminating a potential rival, though corruption
conflicts may also have played a role.

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PEACEFUL ACTIONS FOR GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY
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3. (U) Relatively peaceful local protests in support of
Simango suggest that the community was prepared to take
democracy into its own hands. Those who openly supported
Simango were able to gather over 30,000 signatures in one
week, more than twelve times the amount required for his name
to be placed on the ballot. (Note: There were fewer than
57,000 votes cast in the previous Beira municipal election.
End note) That such a petition was organized and signed by
such a sizeable number of eligible voters reflects a form of
popular political determination rarely seen in Mozambique.

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ACCOUNTABILITY FACTORS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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4. (U) The constitutionally-mandated expansion of
municipalities governed by locally elected mayors (unlike
districts whose managers are appointed by the national
government) also appears to be fostering the growth of
democracy. Unlike national elections where the electorate
rarely knows the individual who represents them, voters tend
to know the local candidates and their programs. This
accountability and sense that an ineffective leader can, at
least theoretically, be peacefully removed, may be
encouraging Mozambicans to take greater interest in and
ownership of the election and political process, at least at
the local level.

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DISTRICT COUNCILS AS TRAINING GROUND FOR DEMOCRACY
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5. (C) The FRELIMO-controlled central government may have
inadvertently fostered the growth of grassroots democracy
through a national program that funnels grants of up to 7
million meticais (USD 280,000) to district administrators for
use in local development projects (ref C). In order for the

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projects to be funded, they must be reviewed and approved by
a village council made up of local citizens who are, in
practice, FRELIMO members. FRELIMO may have assumed that the
council members would remain loyal to FRELIMO so long as
money continues to flow. However, those who have never
participated in a democratic process are learning how to
govern themselves, albeit at a simple level; a base of those
skilled in democratic techniques is building, along with the
belief that they have self-determination.

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COMMENT: PARTY SELF-INTEREST BOOMERANGS
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6. (C) Leaders of the major political parties may have
failed to recognize the growing strength of grassroots
democracy in Mozambique. At least in these two mayoral
races, they followed old patterns, imposing their will as
they chose, assuming the rank and file would simply accept
any candidate nominated. By failing to recognize the
popularity of the two mayors, FRELIMO and RENAMO may have
inadvertently weakened their own power by giving voters, who
are learning to flex their muscles, a chance to organize and
practice techniques that could lead to further
decentralization of party power, or, potentially, to the
growth of a significant third party. In many ways these
recent developments make the upcoming municipal elections
more interesting to watch; their outcomes will be a helpful
gauge with which to measure the state of Mozambican
democracy, which seems to be developing, albeit slowly, from
the grassroots up.
Chapman