Maputo — The Mozambican government has accused the country's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, of resorting to blackmail in its dialogue with the government, “which has resulted in the loss of human lives, serious injuries and the destruction of public and private property”.
The government statement, issued on Saturday, was clearly referring to the fact that, while discussions were under way between government and Renamo delegations in Maputo, in late June Renamo gangs had launched ambushes against vehicles on the main north-south road in the central province of Sofala.
Right from the start of the dialogue, the government said, Renamo had adopted “an unconstructive posture, always inserting new conditions”.
Such conditions could only hold up the discussions - even though it was Renamo itself which had requested “urgent negotiation”.
Among the conditions demanded by Renamo were “limitations on the movements of the Defence and Security Forces in some areas, and the interference by the government in matters which are not part of its jurisdiction under the separation of powers that characterizes the democratic ordering of the Mozambican state”.
Renamo has demanded the withdrawal of all police and military unit from the vicinity of Satunjira, in Gorongosa district, where its leader, Afonso Dhlakama, is currently living. It is also refusing to submit its own proposals for amending the electoral legislation to the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, unless they are first rubber-stamped by the government.
It is demanding “a political agreement” with the government before anything is submitted to the Assembly.
The government statement also demolishes the Renamo claim that the government has accepted Renamo's position on the electoral laws.
Although, in general, amendments to the laws were “relevant, pertinent, opportune and urgent”, that did not mean that the government agreed with all the Renamo proposals.
It noted that the Renamo document contains points which were rejected the last time the Assembly revised the legislation (in December), notably Renamo's attempt to completely politicize the National Elections Commissions (CNE), simply dividing seats on it between Renamo and the ruling Frelimo Party.
The Renamo proposal completely ignored other political parties, the country's legal institutions, and civil society bodies, the government said.
But in any case, since these were legislative proposals, the government had always argued that Renamo should simply channel them to the legislative body, the Assembly. Instead, Renamo had demanded that the government adopt the Renamo document in its entirety, which would then be submitted jointly to parliament.
This Renamo position, the statement argued, “obviously relegates to a secondary position” the Assembly of the Republic, and negates the separation of powers. “This is an undue transfer of political and legislative power from the Assembly to an inappropriate forum, without any legal authority”, it said.
A further problems was the signing of the minutes of the dialogue.
These, said the government statement, “are mere transcriptions of what each person said during the sessions which, after they have been duly checked, and corrected if necessary, should be signed by the parties to the talks”.
For the first four rounds of talks, the minutes were signed without any problem. But as from the fifth round, Renamo had refused to sign the minutes. So they have been signed only by the members of the government delegation.
Despite all of these problems, the government insists that it is “committed to dialogue, a dialogue will all segments of Mozambican society”.
This will for dialogue “remains unshakeable”, in order to build “a united, peaceful, stable and prosperous nation”, the statement concluded.
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