Mondlane postpones “spearhead”, calls for fresh elections

MONDLANE POSTPONES “SPEARHEAD”, CALLS FOR FRESH ELECTIONS

Maputo, 30 Dec (AIM) – Mozambique’s former presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, has called off a further round of unrest, which he had labelled his “spearhead”.

In his latest broadcast from his hideout somewhere in Europe, on Sunday night, Mondlane said he had received a request to delay the “spearhead” by five days, so that international organisations “can investigate crimes in Mozambique”, and the country can be resupplied with food, fuel, and other essentials.

Instead of organising protests, Mondlane wants to hold fresh elections. He announced “people’s elections” to be held on 6 and 7 January in every province, district, administrative post, locality and neighbourhood in the country.

There are 11 provinces (including Maputo city) in Mozambique, and over 160 districts. Each district is divided into administrative posts, and each administrative post into localities. Every urban area is divided into neighbourhoods (“bairros”).

So Mondlane is proposing that tens of thousands of elections be organised across the country in less than a fortnight. He did not say who would pay for this. He was equally silent about such matters as voter registration, and the role of political parties.

Mondlane said nothing about ballot boxes or ballot papers – perhaps he thinks they are unnecessary, since the system he proposes is for voters to queue up behind their preferred candidates.

These elections, he said, will elect new provincial governors, district administrators, locality heads, and neighbourhood secretaries. They will all take office on 15 January, the same day that Mondlane plans to be sworn in as President of the Republic.

All these positions are already occupied. No problem, said Mondlane – the existing institutions will be “suspended”. He did not say what would happen if a governor, administrator or neighbourhood secretary refuses to leave office.

Mondlane also wants a new national flag – he objects to the image of an AK-47 rifle that is on the current flag. He called for new flag designs which should be submitted by 10 January. The proposals would then be voted on “by the people”. He did not say how this voting would be organised.

Replacing the flag is not a simple matter, since the design of the flag is specified in great detail in the Mozambican constitution. The last time the Constitution was amended, Mondlane was a member of the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, and he voted in favour of the amended constitution.

Perhaps Mondlane’s most alarming proposal was that drinking water should be distributed free of charge. If water companies can no longer charge their clients for the water they consume, they would soon run out of money, and water supply systems would collapse, leading to a rapid spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera.

Mondlane promised a bank guarantee fund of up to 600 million dollars to help businesses recover from the recent rioting. Although the rioting was a consequence of Mondlane’s own call for street protests, he claimed the businesses “were vandalised by the police on the instructions of Frelimo”.

He did not say where the 600 million dollars would come from.
(AIM)
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