Renamo’s proposal for the election of provincial governors must be approved when it reaches the National Assembly, party leader Afonso Dhlakama said after negotiations with Frelimo.
The president of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Afonso Dhlakama, has already secured an agreement with ruling party Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) to elect provincial governors.
Dhlakama made the statement this Saturday (23-09) during a meeting of the Renamo political commission in the Gorongosa mountain range, his first public appearance since he took refuge in the region just over a year ago.
“For the first time, Frelimo agreed and said yes, there will be election of governors” in the general elections of 2019, the leader of the main opposition party said, quoted on the newspaper O País website and in statements transmitted by television channel STV.
“It is an agreement between Dhlakama and [President of the Republic] Nyusi”, who is also president of Frelimo, he added.
The opposition leader said that, thanks to the agreement, Renamo’s decentralisation project should be approved when it reaches the Assembly of the Republic, where Frelimo has a majority.
“In 2019 we will have governors-elect, from Renamo, Frelimo, MDM or maybe from other parties,” it being still to determine whether elections will be by direct vote or by assembly, he said.
The president of the country’s largest opposition party said that the depoliticisation of the country’s armed forces and the integration of RENAMO men into their ranks were still being discussed.
Mozambicans gathered in Chimoio in early September demanding progress in peace negotiations.
“We want our military commands placed in the leading positions. The army must be neutral; it must not belong to Renamo, Frelimo or any other party.”
Dialogue for Peace
Dhlakama concluded by saying that he would continue to maintain contacts with the president in order to reach a peace agreement between Renamo and government and expressed a desire. “I would like to govern, with democracy”, even if it was “for a mandate, like Mandela” then leaving the task to the young.
In Maputo on Saturday, President Nyusi said that the Mozambican Defence Forces were making “a vital contribution to the dialogue with the leader of Renamo resulting in the progress that everyone is witnessing.”
President Nyusi said that, in order to achieve peace, “Measures with the armed forces as main players will need to be taken,” noting that there would be changes in the country’s military, without going into detail.
“There will be necessarily be a joint process of establishment, organisation, adaptation and coordination of new actions, in a different make-up in the constitution of the armed forces,” the president said.
“Unequivocal sign”
Responding to the Renamo leader’s announcement on the provincial governors’ election agreement, Frelimo spokesman António Niquice said on Sunday (24.09) that a “clear signal” of the constructive dialogue had already been given in the beginning of August with the visit of President Filipe Nyusi to Dhlakama on the Gorongosa mountain range. Nyusi “went to visit a brother” in a process “like that of Mozambican families”.
Although the government and Renamo signed the General Peace Agreement in 1992 and a second agreement ending military hostilities in 2014, Mozambique has been experiencing recurring outbursts of violence due to the main opposition party’s refusal to accept election results, alleging fraud.
In May, Afonso Dhlakama announced an indefinite truce with the defence and security forces, after contacts with the Mozambican head of state.
Source: Deutsche Welle
