Renamo spokesman Marcial Macome said today that the health of Renamo President Ossufo Momade had influenced the postponement of the National Council, scheduled for March 7 and 8 in Vilankulo, Inhambane province.

The suspicion that Ossufo Momade was in a delicate health situation had been aroused by the fact that he had disappeared from the limelight during the political dialogue between the President of the Republic, Daniel Chapo, and the leaders of the three opposition parties with seats in the Assembly of the Republic, Podemos, Renamo and Movimento Democrático de Moçambique, and the extra-parliamentary party, Nova Democracia.

At the last two meetings where consensus was reached on the terms of reference, while the other political groupings were represented by their respective leaders, Renamo was represented by MPs Ivone Soares and Saimon Macuine.

"One thing has nothing to do with the other. He's fine. President Ossufo Momade has his own autonomy to appoint who should represent him. I myself represented him at the beginning of this process. You have to understand that he has his own life and his own personal agenda," he explained this morning to MZNews.

On the other hand, Macome dismissed the demonstrations of other Renamo members who oppose the postponement of the National Council, because the decision to postpone was agreed by the elected members.

"The National Council is a body restricted to the 120 party members elected to it. Before we announced the postponement, we sent the letter to everyone and they agreed," he said. Other non-elected members can participate in the National Council by virtue of their functions, such as the representatives of the party's governing bodies, he noted. "Among these, there are no complaints about the postponement."

We asked the spokesman about a possible date for the National Council and he said that it would depend on the decision of the Political Commission (PC). And when will the PC meet? "At any time," he said.