Chissano advocates meeting between president and opposition leader in Mozambique

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Chissano advocates meeting between president and opposition leader in Mozambique

4:39 CAT | 01 Jul 2016

File photo / Former president of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano

Former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano said yesterday that the “much-desired encounter” between the Mozambique head of state and the Renamo leader which is “in preparation” would provide “a commitment to return tranquillity” to the country.

“Today, we see that peace is again threatened in Mozambique, because of attacks by Renamo gunmen in the centre of the country. Once again, dialogue has been called for in search of a solution and an end to these attacks,” the former president said in Lisbon in a speech accepting the Council of Europe’s 2015 North-South prize.

“I believe that this long-awaited meeting will provide a commitment to give tranquillity back to the Mozambican people and return to them the space they need to continue to fully enjoy their human rights and step up their fight against poverty,” he said.

Former President of Mozambique recalled that “dialogue has been a constant tool in finding solutions” and recalled that it was after a broad national debate for two years, it was possible to approve the Constitution in 1990 that “enhanced freedoms and fundamental rights of citizens, adopted the multiparty political system and a market economy, thus opening more space for citizen participation in political, economic and social development of the country. “

“Since then, our country experienced a period of growth and economic and social development assignable and our belief was that the changes that we adopted were successful and that national reconciliation was effective, although we knew that peace in a country with a past armed conflicts, like ours, is never a finished product, “he maintained.

Chissano warned later in his speech, which was a standing ovation, that “the world is still divided between a northern developed, wealthy, highly industrialised and prosperous and an underdeveloped south, impoverished, unstable and unviable” and considered that the current economic system world is unfair.

“The continuation of this situation is unsustainable and catastrophic, beyond incomprehensible,” he said, stating that it expected “an increase in the frequency and intensity of conflicts motivated by the pursuit of justice and equity.”

For the former Mozambican leader, the crisis of migration to Europe and the conflicts in Africa and the Middle East “are the result and expression of these imbalances, which already threaten the stability of international organisations like the European Union.”

Chissano stressed the role of the Council of Europe “in search of the reversal of this trend paths through the north-south, refreshed and robust dialogue, based on the share of its North-South Centre”, an organisation that is based in Lisbon.

Joaquim Chissano and the Greek activist Lora Pappa received today at a ceremony in Parliament, the hands of the President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the North-South Prize 2015, distinguished personalities who stand out “internationally for its action for the defence of human rights and democracy, contributing to a more interdependent and united world “.

The former Mozambican President dedicated the award “to the hero Mozambican people”, recalling that “were over 30 years of aggression and destruction that focused on an impoverished and highly vulnerable country.”

Source: Lusa