- Nyusi says Mondlane has not been expelled from Mozambique
By António Cumbane
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The political dialogue to solve the post-election crisis in Mozambique, scheduled to begin on Tuesday in the presidential office in Maputo, has been postponed indefinitely.
The main opposition leader, Venancio Mondlane (VM7), was not present, which was predictable because he ran the risk of being detained on charges of several crimes, including crimes against state security.
Mondlane is out of the country, and President Filipe Nyusi even said nobody knows where he is. He communicates via live broadcasts on his Facebook page. In the latest of these, Mondlane accused Nyusi of playing games with the dialogue, because he had called the meeting without responding to the 20 points which Mondlane had put on the agenda.
Mondlane said he could not travel to Maputo without guarantees that he would not be arrested, since there is a warrant out for his arrest on charges of an attempted coup d’etat.
“I didn’t participate in this debate for a very simple reason”, he said. “To date I haven’t received any answer to my letter. I presented the priorities for a dialogue. One of the questions was the possibility of me participating virtually in this debate, but there was no reply. The President of the Republic is playing games with the dialogue”.
Three of the four presidential candidates did attend – namely, Ossufo Momade of RENAMO, Lutero Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) and Daniel Chapo of FRELIMO. But they were all agreed that without the presence of Mondlane, the dialogue could not continue.
“I think we cannot hold this meeting without the presence of Venancio”, said Ossufo Momade.
Nyusi proposed that a new date be fixed for the meeting, probably next year “We’ll have to find another day for the dialogue”, he said. “The political parties represent the people. I should remind you that Venâncio Mondlane has not been expelled from this country”.
Meanwhile, Mondlane has announced a series of measures to continue denouncing the preliminary results announced by the National Elections Commission. These include parking vehicles in the middle of the Maputo streets as from Wednesday to prevent the circulation of traffic during the morning. (AC)
