Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique

{{Infobox political party

| name = Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique

| native_name = Partido Otimista pelo Desenvolvimento de Moçambique

| logo = Logo of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique.png

| colorcode = {{Party color|Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique}}

| abbreviation = PODEMOS

| leader =

| president = Albino Forquilha{{Cite web |last=SAPO |title=Moçambique. Podemos admite que Venâncio Mondlane se possa tornar líder do partido |url=https://24.sapo.pt/atualidade/artigos/mocambique-podemos-admite-que-venancio-mondlane-se-possa-tornar-lider-do-partido |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=SAPO 24 |language=pt}}

| secretary_general = {{nowrap|Sebastião Mussanhanehttps://podemos.org.mz/estrutura/ Estrutura}}

| founded = {{Start date|2019|5|7|df=yes}}

| registered = {{Start date|2019|5|14|df=yes}}

| merger =

| split = FRELIMO

| headquarters = Rua Gulamo Khan 32, Bairro Ferroviário, Maputo

| ideology = Democratic socialism{{Cite web |last=Redacção |date=2024-10-30 |title=Joaquim Veríssimo verga e finalmente autoriza criação do partido PODEMOS |url=https://cartamz.com/index.php/politica/item/1881-joaquim-verissimo-verga-e-finalmente-autoriza-criacao-do-partido-podemos |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Carta de Moçambique |language=pt-pt}}
Left-wing populism
Machelism

| position =Centre-left to left-wing

| national =

| colours = {{color box|#FCE000|border=darkgray}} Yellow
{{color box|#D21F35|border=darkgray}} Red
{{color box|#037168|border=darkgray}} Green

| anthem =

| seats1_title = Assembly of the Republic

| seats1 = {{Composition bar|43|250|{{Party color|Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique}}}}

| flag = PODEMOS Mozambique.svg

| website = {{URL|https://podemos.org.mz/}}

| country = Mozambique

}}

The Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique ({{Langx|pt|Partido Otimista pelo Desenvolvimento de Moçambique}}, PODEMOS) is a Mozambican political party of the democratic socialist ideology founded on 7 May 2019 by a sector of the ruling Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) dissident from the leadership headed by President Filipe Nyusi.

PODEMOS was founded in 2018 when the electoral court rejected the independent candidacy of Samora Machel Jr., son of Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique, for mayor of Maputo in the 2018 municipal elections. Many members of the Youth Association for the Development of Mozambique (AJUDEM), an internal political group of FRELIMO that supported Machel, participated in the founding of PODEMOS in May of the following year. Despite this, both Machel and the party have denied any mutual relationship. The party finally obtained legal registration a week after the announcement of its foundation, on 14 May.

During the second half of May and the first half of June, the party began collecting signatures to be able to present candidates in the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections. Less than a month after its founding, on 11 June 2019, PODEMOS announced Hélder Mendonça, a little-known musician, as its presidential candidate.

In the 2024 Mozambican general election, PODEMOS won 31 seats in the Assembly of the Republic, along with running Venâncio Mondlane as their candidate for that year's presidential election.{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Mozambique’s Ruling Party Wins Elections Amid Nationwide Protests {{!}} Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/24/mozambiques-ruling-party-wins-elections-amid-nationwide-protests |access-date=2024-10-30 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-10-24 |title=Mozambique election: Frelimo's Daniel Chapo wins disputed presidential poll |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14lzy75355o |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}