MDM questions the “many shadows” over resumption of peace talks in Mozambique

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MDM questions the “many shadows” over resumption of peace talks in Mozambique

1:43 CAT | 20 May 2016

Lusa (File photo) / Daviz Simango, leader of MDM qestions the exclusion of all other interested parties except for the government and Renamo

Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) leader Daviz Simango says he thinks “many shadows” still surround the resumption of peace talks between the government and Renamo, warning of the risk of political polarization and the exclusion of other interested parties from the dialogue.

“For us there are still many shadows, because each [government and Renamo] made its demands, and suddenly, in a matter of hours, we see this situation,” Simango told Lusa, saying he was surprised at how fast the announcement of the resumption of talks was made and claiming that now “the most important is that the two parties do not think they alone in the matter of peace”.

Renamo yesterday announced José Manteigas, Eduardo Namburete and André Magibire as those members who will resume dialogue with the government and prepare a high level meeting to end the political and military crisis in Mozambique.

Renamo’s announcement came two days after the head of the Mozambican state asked the leader of the main opposition party to indicate his team, following several months in which the talks were suspended and military confrontation in the centre of the country worsened.

Speaking yesterday to Lusa, the president of MDM said that he hoped that the talks between the government and Renamo would not mean “the exclusion of civil society and other political parties”, nor the pursuit of a hidden agenda by the two leaders.

“The concern is that this will be a process in which two people meet, understand what they understand, and none of it is released”, Simango said, citing as an example the recent revelation of undisclosed loans guaranteed by the Mozambican state, where “there were people who hid the deal and the debt”.

The MDM leader and mayor of Beira, Mozambique’s second largest city, also warns that the past record of talks between the government and Renamo is an “experience which does not inspire confidence,” an allusion to the return to military confrontation following both the 1992 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the 2014 Cessation of Hostilities agreement.

“We can replay the scenario where the two sides talk, hide what they say and then people are surprised by new acts of war, as has happened in the past”, Simango said, adding that he was disappointed that the announcement of resumption of dialogue had not been accompanied by a truce or a ceasefire, with attacks attributed by the authorities to Renamo continuing in recent days.

Negotiations between the Mozambican government and Renamo have been stalled for several months after the largest opposition party withdrew on the grounds of a lack of progress and what it saw as a lack of sincerity on behalf of the government.

The suspension of the dialogue was accompanied by a worsening of political violence, with clashes between Renamo and security forces, as well as mutual accusations of abductions and assassinations on both sides and attacks on civilian targets in the centre of the country attributed by the authorities to the opposition’s military wing.

As a condition of returning to the negotiating table, Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama has stipulated the involvement as mediators of the European Union, the Catholic church and the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

Despite the possibility of mediation having been discounted by President Nyusi at this stage, Renamo believes that the resumption of dialogue does not preclude the involvement of the international community in later stages of the newly re-formed Joint Committee’s work.

For the government, the president in March instructed National Council for Defence and Security member Jacinto Veloso, presidential advisor Maria Benvinda Levi and Alves Muteque, a member of the presidency, to lay the groundwork for a meeting with Dhlakama.

Source: Lusa