Mozambique: Excluding Mondlane from post-election dialogue would be “a serious mistake”

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Mozambique: Excluding Mondlane from post-election dialogue would be “a serious mistake”

2:56 CAT | 10 Jan 2025

Photo: DW

President Nyusi yesterday met with the parties that received the most votes in the national dialogue, but Venâncio Mondlane was once again left out. “Excluding Mondlane is a serious mistake,” journalist Luís Nhachote told DW.

Outgoing President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, this Thursday (09-01) held a meeting with the five parties that received the most votes in the last general elections. The move was announced as part of the national dialogue in search of solutions to the post-electoral crisis that is ravaging the country. However, the meeting once again excluded Venâncio Mondlane, the second most-popular candidate in the October 9 elections, generating criticism and questions as to the legitimacy of this process.

In an interview with DW Africa, Mozambican journalist Luís Nhachote was categorical in criticizing Mondlane’s absence from the negotiations. For Nhachote, this exclusion represents a strategic error: “They have to include him in the debate. Ignoring Venâncio Mondlane is an act of enormous imbecility,” said Nhachote, stressing the politician’s role as one of the main interlocutors of the political crisis in the country.

Nhachote also emphasized that Mondlane has become a symbol of the most disadvantaged social voices. “He is the beacon, the light that guides Mozambicans in their most serious problems, such as health and education. His absence weakens any attempt to effectively resolve the crisis,” the journalist said.

READ: Mozambique: Parties open to dialogue with Venâncio Mondlane – Lusa | Watch

Nhachoted.dw_ — *FILE – Luis Filipe Nhachote [File photo: Luis Nhachote]*

DW Africa: Does it make sense for Venâncio Mondlane to continue to be excluded from the negotiations on the post-electoral crisis?

Luís Nhachote (LN): It is necessary to include him in the debate. One cannot ignore the player Venâncio Mondlane as an interlocutor in this issue of social crisis, much more so: in this post-election crisis. Venâncio Mondlane ended up being the spokesperson for the social problems that Mozambicans face. So, they have in Venâncio their beacon, their light, their guide, the one who can, at the negotiating table, raise issues that are crucial to the lives of our citizens, such as health, education, etcetera.

DW Africa: Wouldn’t Venâncio Mondlane already be at a disadvantage, considering that he was never included in the meetings and that the other participants have been discussing these issues for a long time?

LN: He is counterbalancing so that this is taken into account. Just the exercise he did today [Thursday], leaving the airport, self-proclaimed, followed by the march to an informal market that brings together a group of Mozambican citizens, who are an excluded group, and he goes to the city centre. So, he sought out the most disadvantaged social classes to raise his voice. I think that, just due to this demonstration that he has support, grassroots support, we cannot ignore the fact that he is an important factor to be called upon. Perhaps they could be ignoring the reality of his physical absence, but he is now free.

DW Africa: So a new chapter in the negotiations is on the horizon. Could Venâncio Mondlane not be able to significantly influence the debates at this negotiating table?

LN: I don’t think so. His opponent in the elections is practically in the same age group, separated by a few years, and they can dialogue more or less in the same spirit. Very different from the current incumbent, who is already leaving and has nothing left, neither to offer nor to bring to the table for dialogue. I don’t understand, for example, how he managed to bring together the four people at a time when he dismissed the government. It seems to me that there is something here that we need to uncover or find out what he intends to do.

DW Africa: What is the meaning of Venâncio Mondlane’s oath this Thursday? What message was he trying to convey with this act?

LN: His belief, his faith, but it seems to be a replica. Thursday we saw a replica of what happened in Nairobi, not on the same scale, with Raila Odinga a few years ago. This scenario had already been drawn up. It doesn’t have a legal effect, but it does have a psychological effect, in terms of galvanizing very large masses. And it is this asset that he activated this Thursday that also leads him to be considered an important person, a person of interest. He proved with this act that he cannot be ignored, and whoever tries to do so would be acting with great imbecility.

READ: Mozambique: Nyusi calls for inclusive approach to end post-election crisis – AIM

Source: Deutsche Welle