The opposition leader accused the current head of state of being incapable of governing and of solving the country's problems, demanding that he leave office in 2025, when the second and last term allowed by the country's fundamental law ends.

"This is an adventurers' trial, because our Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique says that the mandate of the President of the Republic is five years and he can only be re-elected once," said Ossufo Momade, who was speaking at the opening of the third ordinary session of the National Council of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the party's main body in the interval between congresses, which has been meeting since yesterday and today in Maputo.

Cited by Lusa, Ossufo Momade also said that there are sectors of the ruling Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) that are "manipulating" the Mozambican Youth Organization (OJM).

"Any attempt to pull or force a third term in office constitutes a genuine affront to the Constitution of the Republic and a major attack on the rule of law and democracy instituted in the country," he declared.

On Friday, OJM, the ruling party's youth, expressed support for an eventual and unprecedented third term of Filipe Nyusi's presidency.

Sectors of society fear that an eventual third term of Nyusi's presidency could pave the way for a constitutional change so that the current head of state could run for a third term in Ponta Vermelha, the official residence of the Mozambican head of state.

In case he fails a third candidacy for the head of state, but remains in the leadership of Frelimo, Filipe Nyusi would retain power indirectly, given the party's influence.

In his speech, Ossufo Momade called on civil society, political parties and the international community to oppose attempts to revise the Constitution of the Republic in order to accommodate a possible third term.

"Mozambicans cannot accept and must not allow the return to dictatorship," he emphasized.

Momade warned about signs of degradation of fundamental rights in the country, pointing to the curtailment of press and expression freedoms and the risk of "Government intrusion" in religious freedom, through the proposed law on religion, which the executive is preparing to deposit in Parliament.

The President of the Republic and of Frelimo have not yet pronounced themselves on the question of a third mandate in the ruling party, a silence that feeds theories about their real intentions.

Whenever the country prepares to enter a new electoral cycle, it is often said that the head of state is considering running for a third term, and the same thing happened with Filipe Nyusi's predecessors.