Renamo boycotts opposition alliance

Maputo, 31 Oct (AIM) – Mozambican opposition parties have boasted of uniting to lead popular opposition to the current government – but the main opposition force in the current parliament, Renamo, is boycotting the initiative.

“This is a prophetic moment in the life of Mozambicans. For the first time, the whole opposition is together”, boasted Salomao Muchanga, the President of New Democracy (ND). “This represents a sense of unity for collective action in which we are together rejecting the election results that were announced. We are calling for a forensic audit to restore the people’s will”.

According to a report in the independent newsheet “Carta de Mocambique”, Muchanga was speaking after a meeting of 40 opposition parties.

But there were only three meaningful parties present – the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), which has become the largest opposition force, the Mozambique Democratic Party (MDM), which has half a dozen seats in the current parliament, and ND, which has a significant base in the central municipality of Gurue, but nowhere else.

The other parties are just names on bits of paper, which appear at every election to suck money from the generous Mozambican state. They have few members or votes, and most do not even possess a website.
Nonetheless, they all signed up to the week of demonstrations announced by the independent presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane. They all rejected the results announced by the National Elections Commission (CNE) “since these are not in accordance with the norms and procedures, and are characterized by various vices and violations of the law”.

They promised to lead the demonstrations called by Mondlane, stressing that the right to demonstrate is enshrined in the constitution. “We are calling the people to peaceful demonstrations, within the country’s legal framework. There’s nothing illegal about this”, stressed MDM representative Augusto Mbazo.

But Renamo, which still enjoys the status of leader of the parliamentary opposition, refuses to have anything to do with Mondlane’s strikes and demonstrations.

Instead, it is concentrating on its parallel count of the election results. Speaking at a Maputo press conference on Wednesday, the Renamo national election agent, Geraldo de Carvalho said the results of the parallel count would be announced within the next few days. He gave no details, apart from a claim that Renamo “holds an advantage” in at least two provinces.

Carvalho said that Renamo is placing its hopes in the Constitutional Council, the body that must validate and proclaim election results.

He denied the report, first published by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), that the Renamo leader, Ossufo Momade has offered to resign. Any decision to that effect, Carvalho said, would be taken by the Renamo National Council, the party’s highest body in between Congresses.
(AIM)
Pf/ (461)