Happy Birthday, FRELIMO!

Today is the fortieth anniversary of FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front), which swept to power in Maputo in 1975 after the country gained its independence from former colonial power, Portugal.

Founded on 25th June, 1962, FRELIMO came to power in Mozambique on 25th June, 1975, after thirteen years of bloody civil war and 14 months after the Portuguese revolution of 25th April, 1974 changed the regime in Lisbon, granting Mozambique and Portugal’s other African possessions, their independence.

Re-elected in 1999 for its second term of five years after the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, FRELIMO looks to the future after its eighth congress, which finished last week in Maputo, the capital. To the future lies the modernisation of the party and the country and for this, a new Secretary-General, Armando Guebuza, has been chosen to replace President Joaquim Chissano in the forthcoming Presidential elections in 2004.

President Chissano remains as FRELIMO president but has refused a third term as President of Mozambique. FRELIMO renews its ranks with a 30% influx of women and new members, describing itself as a party which follows the principles of democratic socialism.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru