Renamo demands parliament convened to debate foreign troops in Mozambique

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Renamo demands parliament convened to debate foreign troops in Mozambique

4:52 CAT | 04 Aug 2021

Photo: Renamo Moçambique on Facebook

“It is necessary to “swiftly, present a concrete proposal of what the Government wants, whether it is a [declaration of] state of siege or state of war, and, according to the Constitution, the Assembly of the Republic has 24 hours to pronounce”

Renamo, the largest opposition party in Mozambique, on Wednesday demanded that parliament hold an extraordinary session to debate the presence of foreign forces engaged in the fight against armed groups in Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country.

“Renamo’s position is that we should, in fact, hold an extraordinary session, given the urgency of the matter. The body that represents the people should, in principle, debate all the implications of the entry of foreign forces into Mozambique,” said Venâncio Mondlane, Chief Whip of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) bench in the Assembly of the Republic (AR).

For Renamo, the procedure governing the introduction of foreign troops into the country did not respect the Constitution of the Republic, the party therefore defending that the process should be “normalised and legalised as soon as possible”.

“It is necessary to “swiftly, present a concrete proposal of what the Government wants, whether it is a [declaration of] state of siege or state of war, and, according to the Constitution, the Assembly of the Republic has 24 hours to pronounce,” Mondlane added.

The Standing Commission of the AR had announced on Tuesday that the three benches of parliament were unanimous in requesting the government to provide information on the presence of foreign contingents in the country at the next session of parliament, which starts in October.

But Renamo today denied having agreed to schedule the matter for an ordinary session in October, noting that an “emergency situation” cannot be debated “in two or three months’ time”.

“Renamo’s position has always been in favour of external military support, but this support must be provided in accordance with the national legal system,” Mondlane said.

in addition to Renamo, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the third-largest party in the AR, has criticised the government for authorising the presence of foreign military personnel in the country without informing parliament.

Civil society organisations have also considered bringing foreign contingents into Mozambique without informing parliament, disrespectful to the institution.

Since the beginning of July, the Mozambican Defence and Security Forces have had the support of a thousand Rwandan soldiers and police in the fight against armed groups, within the framework of a bilateral agreement between the Mozambican government and the Kigali authorities.

In addition to Rwanda, Mozambique will have support from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), under a mandate for a joint force approved on June 23 at an extraordinary SADC summit in Maputo. Some SADC member countries already have military personnel on the ground.

The number of soldiers the organisation will send to Mozambique is not publicly known, but SADC military experts who visited Cabo Delgado said in April that the mission should comprise around 3,000 soldiers.

Armed groups have terrorised Cabo Delgado province since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the radical Islamic State group.

The attacks have so far claimed more than 3,100 lives, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and have displaced more than 817,000 people, according to Mozambican authorities.

Source: Lusa