Raul Domingos says manipulation of election results could lead to yet another cycle of violence in Mozambique

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Raul Domingos says manipulation of election results could lead to yet another cycle of violence in Mozambique

12:04 CAT | 09 Aug 2017

File photo / Raul Domingos

Renamo’s former chief negotiator in the 1992 General Peace Agreement, Raul Domingos, has told Lusa news agency that Mozambique will continue to experience military violence if electoral results are manipulated.

“I have no doubt that the lack of transparency in electoral processes, the manipulation of results, is the main cause of political and military instability,” said Raul Domingos.

Domingos, who was expelled from Renamo in 2000 following disagreements with party leader Afonso Dhlakama, discussed Sunday’s meeting between the Mozambican president and the leader of the main opposition party.

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Describing the meeting between the two leaders as “a pleasant surprise” on the road to lasting peace in Mozambique, Domingos said that it would still be necessary to remove the root cause of instability in Mozambique.

“Elections in Mozambique have always been manipulated by Frelimo. It never won the vote, although the opposite has never been proven,” Domingos said about the Liberation Front of Mozambique, the ruling party since independence in 1975.

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Domingos also points to Frelimo’s politicisation of the state and its use of the Defence and Security Forces to promote its political grip as causes of political and military violence in the country.

The government and Renamo must resolve these matters by the end of the year, so that the country does not slip back into violence after the 2018 general elections, Domingos says.

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As one of Renamo’s leading figures, Raul Domingos headed the movement’s delegation in the negotiations that led to the signing of the General Peace Agreement with the Frelimo government in 1992.

Raul Domingos led Renamo in Mozambique’s the first general and multiparty elections in 1994, but was forced out of the party in 2000 following disagreements with Afonso Dhlakama over the party’s refusal to acknowledge defeat in the 1999 general election.

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Despite the Peace Agreement, Mozambique has experienced outbreaks of political and military violence sparked by Renamo’s refusal to recognise Frelimo’s victory in the elections.

The Mozambican president and Renamo leader held a surprise meeting in the Gorongosa mountain range in central Mozambique on Sunday, adding continuing impetus to negotiations for the restoration of political stability.

Source: Lusa