Maputo — Another parliamentary deputy from Mozambique's former rebel movement Renamo, Cornelio Quivela, has resigned from the party, reports Friday's issue of the independent daily "O Pais".

Quivela's defection brings to five the number of Renamo deputies who have sent letters of resignation to the party's leader, Afonso Dhlakama.

Quivela told "O Pais" that he was resigning because of the "bad atmosphere" inside the party, and because of its lack of a clear political strategy.

"I am absolutely disillusioned with Afonso Dhlakama", he said. "The hope that one day Renamo will become an alternative has died, and so I have decided to leave the party".

He thought that within a few days, many other parliamentarians could abandon Renamo. "It's just a matter of time", he said. "Renamo is moribund. It has lost the political action that always characterised it between its creation as a guerrilla movement until its transformation into a political party".

Quivela has served in several leadership positions in Renamo, including as the party's political delegate in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

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