The Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS) began its first trip to the Assembly of the Republic yesterday as the largest opposition party, and criticized the absence of its peers from RENAMO and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique.áMoçambique.

"The benches that didn't come to take office, trying to convey a message that they are on the side of the people is a lie, in fact they are cowards because they are pretending to be on the side of the people by not taking office," said deputy Ivandro Massingue.

He said that in the next few days, the parties that didn't take office yesterday will do so "through back doors and windows".

The party has received calls, like RENAMO and MDM, to boycott the swearing-in of its MPs, but according to Massingue, the right thing to do is to take office, since it is supposedly the will of the people.

"We're not here to imitate what the traditional parties do or fail to do... If we're here, it's because the people asked us to be here to take office," he said.

He said that the pressure for PODEMOS not to take office was being engineered by political actors.