Nyusi invites Dhlakama to dialogue, appoints Veloso, Levi and Muteque to prepare meeting

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Nyusi invites Dhlakama to dialogue, appoints Veloso, Levi and Muteque to prepare meeting

3:16 CAT | 05 Mar 2016

In File Club of Mozambique / Afonso Dhlakama (L) and Filipe Nyusi (R) on the last meeting they held in Maputo on February 2015.

The Mozambican president has addressed an invitation to the leader of Renamo for the resumption of dialogue and asked the main opposition party for the “utmost urgency” in the designation of his representatives to prepare a meeting at the highest level.

“The President, Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, in compliance with the decisions of the National Council for Defence and Security, addressed an invitation to the president of Renamo [Mozambique National Resistance], Afonso Dhlakama, for the resumption of dialogue at the highest level, aimed at finding the best ways to restore peace and proceed on the path of development “, said the President in a statement sent to Lusa on Friday.

The letter, according to the note from the Presidency, follows the meeting on February 24 of the National Defense and Security Council which determined the continuation of the head of state’s efforts for the resumption of dialogue with the leader of the largest opposition party.

In the invitation, the head of state calls for the “maximum possible urgency” in the designation of Renamo’s representatives for a return to dialogue.

From his side, Filipe Nyusi has appointed Jacinto Veloso, a member of the National Defence and Security Council , Maria Benvinda Levi, advisor to the President of the Republic. and Alves Muteque, officer of the Presidency, to prepare the meeting with Dhlakama.

Contacted by Lusa, the spokesman for Renamo, Antonio Muchanga, said that, by the end of Friday afternoon, the letter had not yet been entered the party’s office.

Avoiding to comment on the invitation, Antonio Muchanga said that the document would be sent to Afonso Dhlakama as soon as it reached Renamo, foreseeing that a response was unlikely to arrive before Monday.

The Presidency’s initiative takes place on the same day the Renamo leader accused the government of preparing a large-scale offensive, at the same time that he expressed his willingness to negotiate.

In a statement sent to Lusa, Afonso Dhlakama’s office accuses the government of having mobilized 4,500 members of the defence and security forces to the provinces of Manica and Sofala, centre of the country, a region of strong support to the movement.

“The concentration aims to carry out a mega-offensive in the districts of the Manica and Sofala provinces to prevent the implementation of the Renamo government”, says the press release, referring to the threat by the main opposition party to rule in the six provinces where it claims to have won the general elections in 2014.

Renamo claims that the deployment of the Mozambican army and police extends to other parts of the country and believes that an alleged offensive will endanger human lives and material goods.

“The president of Renamo reiterates his readiness to engage in dialogue with the government of Frelimo [Liberation Front of Mozambique ruling party] in a serious and responsible manner in order to overcome the current political and military crisis which has already created thousands of refugees,” reads the text.

The political and military situation in Mozambique has deteriorated in recent weeks, with attacks on civilian vehicles columns escorted by the military attributed to Renamo in two sections of the country’s main road, in Sofala province, centre.

Although the head of the Mozambican state, Filipe Nyusi, and the Renamo leader, Afonso Dhlakama, reaffirmed their readiness for dialogue, the negotiation process between the government and the main opposition party has been blocked for several months.

Source: Lusa