Maputo, Mozambique — Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano on Monday warned that the ruling Frelimo Party "must adjust to reality - it is not reality that must adjust to the Party."
Chissano was opening a key meeting of the Frelimo Central Committee in Maputo that must take decisions concerning the organisation of the Party's Eighth Congress, which, according to the Frelimo statutes, should be held no later than mid-2002. Over its 39 years of existence Frelimo had always been able "to adapt to the historic requirements of each moment," said Chissano. "The country is evolving and modernising," he added. "There are new cultural and human values, new technologies and new services. We are not, nor should we be, a static party, tied to the virtues of the past". The past was important and should be valued, added Chissano, "but it cannot and must not condemn our collective present and future." Many of the challenges that the party would face, he said, were rooted "in the natural conflict between the values of tradition and the new values of modernity. We must be a party that is able to interpret and to shoulder the challenges of the present and of the future."
One of the questions Frelimo now faced was "to what extent is the current structure of our Party able to deal with the demands imposed on us not only by the complexity and multiplicity of the problems facing Mozambique today, but also those that result from the need to forecast and to lead the evolution of our society, in consonance with the evolution of the continent, the region and the world ?" Only by paying attention to "new social phenomena" could Frelimo hope to win "the battles of today and tomorrow," Chissano warned. Chissano stressed that the greatest battle facing Frelimo was the struggle against absolute poverty. "Mozambicans cannot be a people who are forever martyred by the violence of poverty," he exclaimed. "The struggle against poverty is a struggle for everyone". The fight against the spread of the lethal disease AIDS was also a struggle for all Frelimo members. "If we allow ourselves to die of AIDS, then we shall have no future, either as a party, or as a nation", said Chissano.
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He also urged a continued battle against crime and corruption. "Against these evils we must be implacable," he declared. Whether it is held in 2002, or brought forward into this year, the Frelimo Congress must take major decisions on the party's strategy for the 2003 local elections and the 2004 parliamentary and presidential elections. The question of the presidential candidate for 2004 is certain to be raised. Frelimo must decide whether to run Chissano for a further term of office, or to present a different candidate.
