Former president of Cape Verde welcomes mediation between Mozambican govt and Renamo

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Former president of Cape Verde welcomes mediation between Mozambican govt and Renamo

5:24 CAT | 22 Jun 2016

Lusa (File photo) / Former president of Cape Verde and also former prime minister Pedro Pires

Former president of Cape Verde Pedro Pires has welcomed the idea of mediators in negotiations between the Mozambican government and Renamo as “positive”, stressing, however, that it was “essential to clarify the relationship between the two entities”.

“It must be clear that there cannot be a state within a state; there cannot be two police forces, there cannot be two armed forces. Power must be unitary, the institutions unitary, and those who are now outside should loyally integrate into national institutions,” he said.

Mozambique has seen a worsening of the clashes between the Defence and Security Forces and the armed wing of Renamo, with mutual accusations of abductions and assassinations of militants on both sides.

The main opposition party refuses to accept the results of the general elections in 2014, claiming the right to rule in the six provinces where it claims victory in the poll.

Last Thursday, the Mozambican president said he would accept the presence of mediators in the negotiations between the government and Renamo, setting an immediate end to the fighting as a priority.

Referring also to the situation in Guinea-Bissau, Pires stressed the need for open dialogue and humility.

“It is through dialogue that consensus is built. Refusing to talk, imposing solutions without taking the views of others into account, can only lead to impasse,” Pires said, arguing that people should acquire “more maturity” and take into account the interests of the whole country.

“Sometimes people take into only their own interests into account. But what must be at the centre of our concerns are the national interests, public interests, the interests of all of us,” the former Cape Verde prime minister said.

Source: Lusa