A meeting of the Renamo National Political Commission in the central city of Quelimane ended on Wednesday with a statement that, as from zero hours on Thursday (which happens to be the 20th anniversary of the 1992 peace agreement between the government and Renamo), “a new political order” will begin, marked by peaceful demonstrations across the country.
According to a report on Radio Mozambique, the purpose of these demonstrations would be to oblige the government and the ruling Frelimo Party to accept Renamo’s demands against what it considers “social exclusion” and “lack of government transparency”.
Speaking at the close of the meeting, Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama said the demonstrations “are the only way for us to oblige Frelimo to respect our demands”.
He rued out going back to war. “I don’t want to return to Maringue or to the Gorongosa mountains to take up arms”, he said. “Today our language is different, it is that of demonstrations”. (Renamo’s military headquarters during the war of destabilisation were located, first in Gorongosa and later in Maringue).
Dhlakama also threatened to make it impossible for the 2013 municipal electionS and 2014 general elections to be held, unless Frelimo accepted its demands for changes in the electoral legislation.
“Now the time has come”, he said. “If Frelimo does not agree to revise the electoral laws, Renamo will not participate in the elections, and Frelimo will also not participate. Nobody will participate. I shall boycott them, and for anyone who tries to participate, there will be serious problems”.
Dhlakama has been threatening nationwide demonstrations ever since he lost the October 2009 presidential election. So far not a single Renamo demonstration has been held, much less the “December revolution” that he threatened last year.
As for boycotting the elections, if Dhlakama enforces this policy on the rest of Renamo, the predictable result is that a substantial number of Renamo members of parliament will defect to the other significant opposition party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), in the hope that they will become MDM candidates in the 2014 parliamentary elections and hang on to their seats.
The MDM would be the main beneficiary of such a suicidal policy, and would take over from Renamo as the main opposition to Frelimo.
Post published in: Africa News