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Political Parties Open to Dialogue With Venâncio Mondlane

Political Parties Open to Dialogue With Venâncio Mondlane

Five Mozambican political parties assured on Thursday, after a further meeting with the president, that the parties discussing solutions to the post-election tension are open to include presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane in the dialogue.

“The present dialogue table is open, but as we said initially, what is present are party platforms and being party platforms, we are working here, but I reiterate that the dialogue table is open,” declared Daniel Chapo, secretary-general of the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), during the presentation of a joint communiqué, responding to a question about the integration of Venâncio Mondlane into the discussions.

Leaders of the five parties – the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the Party for the Optimistic Development of Mozambique (Podemos), New Democracy (ND), the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) and Frelimo – met again with Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi.

At issue are the demonstrations and stoppages that have brought chaos to the streets in Mozambique, protests called by the independent presidential candidate supported by Podemos, Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the results proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC), giving victory to Frelimo, in power, in the legislative elections, and to the candidate that this party supports, Daniel Chapo, in the presidential elections.

After the new meeting with the president, Daniel Chapo announced that the political parties will form working groups, including technical committees, to discuss state reforms to put an end to the post-election crisis in the country.

“Today we have reached a consensus that we are going to continue working towards the reforms that are the main objective of the Mozambican people, we are talking about reforms related to the electoral law, the improvement of decentralisation and the reforms that could lead us to the revision of the Constitution of the Republic to accommodate the interests of the Mozambican people,” said Chapo.

On 30 December, after a meeting with the president, four opposition parties had expressed openness to pursuing a dialogue for a social pact that would lead to reforms in the country, given the post-election tension.

Venâncio Mondlane arrived in Maputo today at around 8.20am local time (minus two hours in Lisbon) after two and a half months of leading the protest against the results of the general elections from outside the country and under heavy security measures in the Maputo international airport area.

In the aftermath, police dispersed a crowd of supporters listening to Venâncio Mondlane in the centre of Maputo with gunfire and tear gas, an hour after he had returned to the country, with people being shot.

Speaking in the Estrela Market area at around 10am local time, Mondlane once again said, as he did in statements to journalists on his arrival at the airport, that he will go to any lengths to restore electoral truth, reaffirming that he won the general elections on 9 October.

Mozambique’s Constitutional Council (CC) has set 15 January as the date for the inauguration of the new president, who will succeed Filipe Nyusi.

On 23 December, the CC, the final court of appeal in electoral disputes, proclaimed Daniel Chapo, the candidate supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), as the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the vote, as well as the victory of Frelimo, which retained its parliamentary majority.

The announcement immediately led to new clashes, destruction of public and private property, demonstrations, stoppages and looting, but in the last week, with no new calls for protests, the situation has normalised across the country.

Clashes between police and protesters have led to almost 300 deaths and more than 500 people shot since October 21, according to civil society organisations monitoring the process.

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