The mayor of Quelimane, the capital of Zambezia, Manuel de Araújo, says that the Secretary General of the Frelimo party, Roque Silva, and the Renamo spokesman, José Manteigas, are anti-democrats.

"It's not enough for Renamo to say it's the Father or Mother of democracy, it has to appear and show its day-to-day actions. And there is something I condemn, the attitude of Renamo spokesman José Manteigas. I equate José Manteigas with Roque Silva, the two of them are not democrats," said the Renamo member.

In a recent debate at Success TVHe criticized Roque Silva's attitude in saying that the Frelimo party is the one that should want its members to have a certain desire.

"Nobody should start preparing now to be a candidate. You can't volunteer to be a candidate. Wait a minute! The others will tell you if you can be a candidate. Nobody should volunteer: I want to! I want to! Who told you that you have to want to? We're the ones who have to want it for you to want it. It's not for you to say: I want to", said Roque Silva, in 2021, in Zambézia.

In fact, this attitude of the Secretary General of Frelimo was criticized by civil society.

Manuel de Araújo took the same line of criticism as José Manteigas when, at a recent press conference, he said that Ossufo Momade, the current president of Renamo, was the only candidate with the requirements for his own succession. The truth is that the party has yet to deliberate on the new leadership.

According to D'Araújo, both statements violated the democratic principles governing political parties, which are also provided for in the Constitution of the Republic.

"What Roque Silva did was to take away Frelimo's democratic credentials. And if we had a proper PGR [Attorney General's Office], Frelimo would have already been outlawed for not practicing democracy. In the same way that Renamo, because of what Mr. José Manteigas said, if there is to be an exclusive candidate, outside of the party bodies, the PGR should also act," he said.