Consensus reached in political dialogue, claims Chapo

Maputo, 28 Feb (AIM) – Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Thursday claimed that the political dialogue between the country’s main political parties has reached full consensus.

At the end of another meeting between the parties in the presidential offices in Maputo, Chapo declared they were seeking consensus “so that we can achieve the necessary political, economic and social stability in our country”.

But the “100 per cent consensus” claimed by Chapo is only on terms of reference for future discussions. So far nothing of substance has been agreed on such matters as revising the country’s electoral legislation, and decentralisation.

Nonetheless, the terms of reference will be signed at a solemn ceremony next Wednesday, to which civil society organisations, religious bodies, and diplomats will be invited.

“We reached consensus that we should invite all social strata to the signing of the agreement”, said the President. “We also agreed that it is important to invite friendly countries with diplomatic representation in Mozambique, and some cooperation partners who work closely with us for the development of our country”.

Based on the terms of reference, “we shall begin to take the subsequent steps”, said Chapo.

The opposition parties taking part in the dialogue are those represented in the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, and in municipal and provincial assemblies.

But the candidate who came second in last year’s presidential election, and who draws enormous crowds wherever he goes, Venancio Mondlane, has been excluded from the dialogue, on the grounds that he does not lead any political party.

In fact, within a fairly short time, Mondlane has broken bitterly with three parties – the MDM, Renamo and Podemos. Nonetheless there can be little doubt that Mondlane is immensely popular, and so a dialogue in which he does not take part is of doubtful value.
(AIM)
Pf/ (306)