Head of Frelimo in parliament says Renamo attacks are no solution to political crisis

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Head of Frelimo in parliament says Renamo attacks are no solution to political crisis

12:10 CAT | 24 Mar 2016

Rádio Moçambique (File photo) / Margarida Talapa, head of the parliamentarygroup of the Frelimo party

The attacks carried out on Mozambican roads by gunmen of the rebel movement Renamo do not constitute any solution to a political crisis, declared Margarida Talapa, head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Frelimo Party on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Maputo, shortly after a meeting with the visiting Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Teresa Ribeiro, Talapa said the country must not be held hostage by “a group of bandits”.

“We’re not afraid of anything”, she added. “What we want is to sit down and discuss the problems of Mozambicans, without any kind of imposition”.

Renamo, she accused, “is behaving like a child, saying ‘’if Daddy doesn’t give me an egg, I won’t go to school’’. We cannot have childish attitudes”.

Renamo, Talapa added, should start behaving like a political party, and not a criminal gang, and should base its political activities on the legislation in force in the country.

Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama has made renewed dialogue with the government dependent on the presence of international mediators. He has demanded that the Catholic Church, the European Union and South African President Jacob Zuma be requested to mediate in the talks.

Asked about this demand, Talapa neither accepted nor rejected it. “As for so-called international mediation, we are not saying it would not reach this point. What we are saying is that Renamo should cease to have preconceptions, stop defining things in advance”, she said.

She firmly rejected the idea of talks between two political parties. “The dialogue we want is a dialogue between Renamo and the Mozambican state, and not between Renamo and Frelimo”, Talapa said. “It should be a dialogue without pre-conditions – sitting down, discussing matters and reaching a consensus”.

She said that her discussions with the Portuguese diplomat focused on the need for all Mozambicans to commit themselves to the search for an effective peace.

“Peace, national unity and dialogue are the basic conditions for the development of the Mozambican people”, Talapa declared. “We in Frelimo join the voices of all Mozambicans who every day are clamouring for peace”.

Ribeiro also met with the head of the Renamo parliamentary group, Ivone Soares, who is Dhlakama’s niece. She recycled her uncle’s demand for foreign mediators, on the grounds that without mediation, the distrust between the government and Renamo would be “counter-productive”.

“For us, it is imperative that the Frelimo government accept international mediation”, Soares said. Requesting help to emerge from a conflict situation “is no disgrace”.

Lutero Simango, head of the parliamentary group of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), said he had told Ribeiro that dialogue should be “inclusive” (that is, not just between the government and Renamo). He wanted to see the Assembly of the Republic itself involved.

He also stressed the MDM’s position that the Mozambican constitution should be amended, so that provincial governors are elected rather than appointed. He believed that the governors could be elected in the next general elections, due in 2019.

Ribeiro told reporters she was optimistic that a solution will be found to the present political tensions. “I am very confident that Mozambique will be able to find a form of dialogue so that it can use its full potential, and all its wealth”, she said.

She also confirmed that the newly elected Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will visit Mozambique from 4 to 7 May, and that Portugal is preparing a strategic plan for cooperation with Mozambique over the next four years.

Source: AIM