By Eliso Macamo
The poor relative is the one who always does everything wrong. He is always confused, spends his little resources anyway and disappoints constantly. At least this is the perception of who is well or looking at the poor relative from afar. You don’t know what the poor life is, how easily everything can turn into a struggle, extreme vulnerability in the middle, desperation that can lead to bad decisions, etc. No one is judged more severely than a poor relative. This also happens in football, for example. Those teams at the bottom of the table suffer the contempt on a daily basis from the fans of the most successful teams who have the comfort of judging from afar.
There’s a certain sense we can say Renamo has this syndrome. Anyone can judge Renamo. It is very easy to feed on a certain moral arrogance, that is to pretend virtue just to impress, and to argue about why you think Renamo is no alternative. And the proof is always what’s wrong with her. The mistakes of the poor party are not necessarily greater than the mistakes of the rich party. The consequences are much more grave and self destructive. Also: Many of the Poor Party’s mistakes are the direct result of how the Rich Party seeks to disguise its own.
If in Frelimo there were Venancios Mondlane who took her to court for irregularities, we would have, I suppose, many cases. And if those cases even reached a court of law, they would be immediately dismissed or gutted. If Renamo’s critics stopped to think about what it means to be an opposition party in Mozambique, perhaps they’d be more comedic in judging its performance.
The whole state institution treats the opposition as an enemy, at the worst, or as a nuisance, at the best. It’s normal for an opposition party to rent a place to hold an activity and then hear that it won’t happen anymore (“higher orders”). and several other things. Under these circumstances, expecting Renamo’s commitment to the rules to be strong is legitimate, but naive.
The Renamo we have today is the Renamo that is possible in the context of the kind of political system we have. Their problems say more about Mozambique than Renamo because Renamo members are Mozambicans after all. Being so, what I find truly extraordinary is that it still exists, that it holds a congress in the outskirts of Mozambique, that it holds elections on the basis of the discussion of ideas (no matter how poor they may be) and that it has election results that reflect these internal debates (and not the 100% and 98% of your opponent) In the poor’s house, everyone cries and no one is right, yes, but this is Renamo possible in the conditions of our country.
This is not accepting mediocrity. It is to recognize that the salvation of our country lies not in individual individuals. If Ossufo Momade ran for Frelimo, he would beat Daniel Chapo if he ran for Renamo. If Ossufo Momade ran for Frelimo, he would beat Venâncio Mondlane if he ran for Renamo. And he wouldn’t win because Frelimo is better organized. He would win because Frelimo’s disorganization directly affects Renamo’s organizational capacity. This disorganization manifests itself in the perversion of the state institutions and the stifling of the opposition. Didn’t we hear the Mozambican police reacting to the popular demonstrations on the occasion of the death of the musician Azagaia saying that the presence of members of the opposition meant that a coup was being prepared?
Contrary to what many think, it’s not a better Renamo that we need to get rid of Frelimo. It’s decent Frelimo members we need to get rid of the Frelimo they have now. Only this change from Frelimo will allow the emergence of good opposition parties in Mozambique. The election of a deleted and seemingly clueless politician like Ossufo Momade is a faithful portrait of our country, not just Renamo. Frelimo could have had Roque Silva, Damião Jose or Esperança Bias. And there’s the current one…
Of course Renamo has a big mission ahead. His most fit and capable members need to rally around this deleted figure and reorganize the party as much as possible. This is a long-term job and needs breath. Here you only help Renamo members who don’t want quick victories that emulate their ego, but members who even in defeat don’t lose sight of the collective interest.
I think we need to lower our expectations And a good way to start doing that is to stop constantly involving the poor relative…
Article: Google translation from Portuguese to ” English”
