MDM asks 2 deputies to resign for joining Renamo

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MDM asks 2 deputies to resign for joining Renamo

10:13 CAT | 21 Dec 2018

In File CoM

The Mozambican Democratic Movement (MDM) has asked its deputies Geraldo Carvalho and Ricardo Tomás to resign for joining main opposition party, RENAMO.

Both Carvalho and Tomás have joined RENAMO since the last municipalities.

The MDM, through its bench in Parliament, requested the dismissal of Carvalho, the former national mobilisation chief of the party, and Tomás, a former MDM candidate for president of the municipality of Tete in 2013.

But they are refusing to leave the positions, claiming that they are not disrespecting the law by remaining in the Assembly of the Republic.

This was confirmed to DW Africa by MDM spokesman and also deputy of the Mozambican Parliament, Sande Carmona.

“It is a matter that is still under the management of the [parliamentary] party and is not under the management of the party in general. But the party confirms that the bench informed the party that it would move this action; the party authorised the bench to act in the norms of the Assembly of the Republic and the other laws,” said Carmona.

The spokesman for the party led by Daviz Simango also said the party’s decision to have the two deputies resign was necessitated by their lack of commitment to parliamentary work.

Carmona stressed that the deputies “already belong to RENAMO” and, therefore, “already have another ideology”.

Internal divergences

DW knows that the conflict between Geraldo de Carvalho and the MDM, for example, has been going on for a long time – even before the municipal elections – but it worsened when Carvalho broke the silence and supported the election campaign of RENAMO’s Manuel Bissopo in the city of Beira.

According to Carmona, last week, the MDM bench called for, and was accepted, the replacement of the then national mobilisation chief “and, by the way, one of the founders of the MDM, of the Defense and Security Commission in Parliament”.

“This is already a fact. The party has already informed the party about the replacement of Mr Geraldo Carvalho from the Commission and also the entry of Mr Raimundo Pitágoras. It is a law [the loss of mandate], the MDM is not to do anything that is not a rule of the game. “

Deputies refuse MDM’s decision

However, the members have refused to vacate their seats in the Assembly of the Republic, because they consider that the law still gives them the right to remain in the position of deputy.

According to Carvalho, “the matter is being dealt with at the Assembly level”. Carvalho also said he prefers “not to go into details and leave it as it is”.

The politician says he is being persecuted by the MDM.

“Lutero Simango [bench chief] said at a bench meeting that someone informed him on October 5 [2017] that I, Geraldo Carvalho, shot [mortally] Mahamudo Amurane. But he does not show any proof, I was in Beira on the day of the murder. This is political persecution,” he said.

DW tried to talk, over the phone, to Tomás, one of the lawmakers who also claims to be “the victim of threats” of removal.

However, Tomás refused to be interviewed, claiming that he could not comment on the matter on the phone.

Source: DW