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Mozambique: Frelimo Attacks Renamo 'Incoherence'
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Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
14 December 2007
Posted to the web 14 December 2007
Maputo
Manuel Tome, head of the parliamentary group of Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party on Friday attacked the "incoherence" of opposition deputies, who wanted extra money for themselves, but then refused to vote for the state budget containing that money
The opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition had approved the law granting pensions and other benefits to deputies, but then voted against "the budget that will support that expenditure", said tome, who was speaking at the closing session of the last sitting this year of the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
The oppositions wants central government funding for the local authorities - but voted against the budget containing that money, including the money for the four municipalities where there is a Renamo mayor and a Renamo majority in the municipal assembly. "In other words, these municipalities will operate thanks to Frelimo", said Tome.
"For the 13th consecutive year, our parliamentary opposition rejected the budget and the government's economic and social plan, which means they rejected the functioning of the country", declared Tome. All their objections to the budget "were just attempts to kick sand in the eyes of citizens".
As for Renamo's opposition to the Mozambican government acquiring a majority stake in the Cahora Bassa dam, Tome described this as an "abject attitude", and took the occasion to remind Renamo that their historical contribution to Cahora Bassa had been to blow up the pylons carrying the power to the dam's main client, the South African electricity company Eskom.
Tome recalled the meeting on 5 November 1980 between Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama and Colonel Charles van Niekerk, of South African Military Intelligence, in which van Niekerk ordered Renamo to destroy the Cahora Bassa transmission lines in order to cover up South African involvement in the war.
Tome dismissed Renamo's frequent claim that a one party state is being reintroduced. "To hide their own internal problems, they repeat that democracy is in danger and the multi-party system is in danger", he said. "Somebody has convinced then that it you tell a lie enough times it will begin to look like the truth".
Tome pointed out that it was Frelimo, not Renamo, that introduced political pluralism in Mozambique. It was Frelimo that drafted the constitution of 1990 that scrapped the one party state, and precursors to this dated back to 1985, when the first commission to revise the constitution was set up.
At the time Renamo was still trying to bring down the Mozambican state by force. The peace agreement between Renamo and the government was only signed in October 1992, by which time a pluralist system had already been in existence for two years.
Renamo did itself no favours by refusing to join in the applause for a series of Mozambicans named by Tome who had won prizes over the past year. It was perhaps unsurprising that Renamo refused to applaud the name of their old opponent, former President Joaquim Chissano, who won the Mo Ibrahim prize for Excellence in African leadership. But they also refused to applaud Mozambican sportspeople, journalists, writers and musicians. This was a serious political blunder - since every time they refused to clap, they appeared to cut themselves off from the nation, and offered an easy target for Frelimo claims that they are anti-patriotic.
When they refused to applaud the country's victorious women's basketball team, Tome declared "There are some deputies who don't applaud, because they don't like the things that make Mozambicans proud".
When they refused to applaud three journaklists who had won international prizes, Tome remarked "There are some deputies who don't applaud for journalists, because they don't like the truth".
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And when they refused to applaud the country's best known writer, the novelist Mia Couto, who won a prestigious Brazilian prize this year, Tome declared "There are some deputies who don't applaud our writers, because they don't like our identity".
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| Copyright © 2007 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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