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File photo / Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique
Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said yesterday that to disarm and demilitarise Renamo “is nothing out of this world”, adding that this should be a requirement, on the part of the Maputo government, for the negotiations between the two parties, which, he admitted, may shortly take place.
Speaking to Portuguese news agency Lusa on the sidelines of the Mozambique–Portugal Conference in Cascais, Chissano said that contacts were underway with a view to preparing a meeting between President Filipe Nyusi, and the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), Afonso Dhlakama, in the near future.
“It is not in Renamo’s interest to stay in the woods and be seen as a party without credibility, to keep weapons on one hand and have members in Parliament on the other. It connotes terrorism and the like,” Chissano said.
“I believe that Renamo is not interested in that. And the Government, for its part, is not interested in continuing with a country whose economy will once again become a war economy. This cannot be. The state is interested in moving forward and valuing the achievements made in the past,” he added.
Chissano, who declined to give details about ongoing contacts also involving the Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said that he believed that the negotiations may have a “positive outcome”, but insisted on the demilitarization of Renamo.
“It is not out of this world. The main point is to disarm Renamo, demilitarize the Renamo party. Then the rest follows, which is all this philosophy of reconciliation that we have talked about for such a long time,” he argued.
Asked what assurances the Government can give Renamo on a post-demilitarization future, Chissano argued that the question was the wrong way round.
“I would have thought you would put the question the other way round: what guarantees will Renamo give? Because it was not the Government that went back to arms, it was Renamo,” he said, while conceding later that, since he was no longer in government, he could not know what demands were being presented by the parties [in the negotiations].
“That is what we will discuss. I am not in the Government and cannot say what the parties demand. They will demand, and then there will be negotiations and compromise. So far, we do not know what will be put on the table,” he said.
On the contribution of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in the Mozambican peace process – he has been to the Vatican and the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome and made an official visit to Mozambique – Chissano argued that the Portuguese president “acted precisely how friends should”.
“Search for solutions and don’t compound the problem. Take a step back from the issue. The contacts have had some impact on what is happening now, which is the preparation of the parties for a new dialogue. I think it was positive,” the former president said.
Meanwhile, Chissano said he felt that the Mozambican population had long desired peace, and that he believed it quite impossible for the country to slide back into the conditions of the 1976–1992 civil war.
“Peace in Mozambique has penetrated the hearts of Mozambicans. It is not possible in Mozambique, not ever, to return to a war like that of the past. There may be destabilisation, an attack on a bus, etcetera. These are unpleasant things, but a return to war is impossible because the people do not want it and the people are aware of it,” he added.
“We learned from 16 years of war, both the ones (Liberation Front of Mozambique – Frelimo) and the others (Mozambique National Resistance – Renamo),” he said.
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