Maputo — The spokesperson for Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party, Ludmila Maguni, has dismissed the concerns voiced by former education minister Graca Machel about what she regarded as a critical situation within the party.
Machel, who is also widow of the country's first President, Samora Machel, in a letter published on Tuesday, had claimed that the machinery of the Party "has been captured by a handful of members who are responsible for the erosion and perversion of what it means to be in Frelimo'.
Party cadres, she accused, "allowed the Party to be confused with this part of the administrative machinery infiltrated by a handful of members with commitments contrary to our Statutes and Programme'.
Machel thought it urgent to rescue "the true identity of Frelimo, its history, its traditions and its practices', and called on the Party to hold "a National Cadre Meeting, so that, collectively and openly, we may reflect on the life of the Party, and open new paths to recover trust, credibility and respect'.
But Maguni, in an interview with the independent television station STV, dismissed this as just Machel's personal opinion.
There is no crisis inside Frelimo, she claimed, and the Party has no plans to call a National Cadre Meeting.
"It makes no sense to say that the party is in crisis after we won in 64 municipalities in the recent municipal elections', said Maguni. "We won because of very strong work at the grass roots'.
But outside the ranks of Frelimo, few people believe the claims of victory in 64 of the 65 municipalities. Alarming evidence of misconduct and outright fraud has come to light, and parallel vote counts by credible observer groups, point to a victory by the main opposition party, Renamo, in large cities such as Maputo, Matola, Quelimane and Nampula.
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The criticisms raised by Graca Machel, her stepson Samora Machel Junior ("Samito') and former Information Minister Teodato Hunguana, "do not reflect the situation inside the party', claimed Maguni, and so there was no need for a National Cadre Meeting.
"Internally, if we think there is a need to hold a cadre meeting, then the Party has the appropriate bodies to take this decision', she added.
Maguni clearly disapproved of Graca Machel and her stepson publishing their criticisms in the Mozambican media. "Letters should be addressed to the bodies of the Party', she said, "so that the necessary discussion about these matters can really be held, because we are members of a great family, and a great family knows the appropriate places for discussing what is good and what is bad, and how we can correct matters together'.
As for claims that Frelimo has been "infiltrated', Maguni challenged Machel to give their names.
"It's worthless to say there are infiltrators, without saying who they are, so that the Party can make its investigations', she stressed.
