The political participation of youth in Mozambique’s 2019 general eletions

Abstract

This article discusses the political participation of youth in Mozambique’s electoral processes, specifically the 2019 general elections. The results were obtained through interaction (semi-structured interviews) with young members and institutional representatives from four political parties, who explained their views on youth and political participation during elections. The interviews were conducted between April and September 2021 through virtual platforms. We also carried out a detailed analysis of the manifestos of three political parties. The study finds that Mozambican political parties do not have a clear vision of young people’s aspirations, since the definition of the ‘youth problem’ is dominated by adults. In addition, young people’s issues have been generalised without considering the specific concept of what it means to be young. However, in order to maintain the social and economic benefits provided by their political parties, the same young people assume that adults continue to be an example to follow in guiding the destiny of the country.