The absence from the national political scene and the "sepulchral" silence of Renamo's leader, Ossufo Momade, in the face of electoral management crises and the suspension and house arrest of two municipal leaders, could weaken Mozambique's largest opposition party, warn analysts.

Renamo leader Ossufo Momade has been the target of several internal criticisms, including from the mayor of Quelimane, Manuel de Araújo, over his silence on the house arrest of the mayor of Nacala-porto, Raul Novinte, and the recent suspension of Paulo Vahanle, from Nampula.

However, quoted by VOA, Renamo spokesman José Manteigas guaranteed that there is no tense atmosphere in the party, and that Renamo leader Ossufo Momade will make a statement today, Friday, on the current national political scenario, but also on the suspension of the mayor of Nampula and the arrest of the mayor of Nacala-porto by Renamo.

"We were monitoring developments," said the spokesman.

Even so, for the analysts, the Renamo leader has not managed to transfer his military robustness to politics, having been "corrupted with a life of luxury in the city", and they therefore consider him not to be an ideal opposition leader for the current political context.

"Renamo leader Ossufo Momade's silence in the current national political context is worrying," as the last local elections were "the biggest political test Renamo has had" since multipartyism in Mozambique, says Nhancale Sansão Nhancale, an analyst and university lecturer, quoted by VOA.

For this reason, "Ossufo Momade must understand that he is not the head of state, and if he isn't, he doesn't have much room for manoeuvre when it comes to making public appearances with a big impact, unless it's in electoral processes and other politicizable issues."

For his part, political analyst Ricardo Rabocco says that Momade is living with the dilemma of not having the capacity to continue the legacy of Afonso Dhlakama, who dealt assertively with the government, forcing it to negotiate and give in.

"Although Ossufo Momade was a military man, in the context of the DDR over time he was corrupted by the habits and good customs of the city, and as a result he would no longer be able to fight so that the promises of war, especially a pension and decent social reintegration, could be successfully materialized for his peers," he says.

"This almost sepulchral silence from Renamo's top leadership opens up space for small young leaders to start appearing in a diffuse way, who will give Renamo a new vitality and will come into conflict with an old Renamo," warns Rabocco, for whom the party "needs to reinvent itself and inject new blood into the leadership.

Finally, Rabocco has no doubt that the Renamo leader is "in a kind of capture and desperation because of the hidden tensions within Renamo. After these elections, he may be overshadowed by figures like Venâncio Mondlane, Manuel de Araújo, Raul Novinte, Ivone Soares and even Elias Dhlakama, who was his main opponent at the last congress."