By Noémia Mendes
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – The PODEMOS party begins its participation in the Mozambican Parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, this Wednesday, during an extraordinary sitting that will elect members of the Assembly's governing board, its Standing Commission.
However, the party has stated that it also intends to use the opportunity to question the presence and actions of the Mozambican Armed Forces (FADM) during the post-election protests.
The parliamentary group of what is now the largest opposition party questions the legality of the deployment of military personnel and whether Parliament was consulted on the measure.
"We want to understand from the Standing Commission why the military is present in the streets and whether this action was consulted or authorised (by Parliament)," said the spokesperson for the PODEMOS parliamentary group, Ivandro Massingue, in an interview with MOZTIMES. "Our expectation is that legality will be restored, preventing the military from being in the streets to intimidate the people in their struggle for their rights".
The protests against the election results resulted in more than 300 deaths and 600 people being shot during clashes between the demonstrators and the police, according to data from the Electoral Platform DECIDE, a local organisation that monitors post-election violence.
During the demonstrations, the military refrained from direct confrontations with protesters, instead operating as a secondary line of support to the police, who were on the front line of repression against the protesting civilian population. However, there were isolated cases of military personnel involved in post-election violence.
One such case was the apparently deliberate running over of a young woman protesting on one of Maputo's main avenues by an unmarked vehicle belonging to the Defence and Security Forces. In a public statement, the FADM admitted responsibility for the incident, stating that assistance had been provided to the victim and that an inquiry would be launched to establish accountability.
The military has also been involved in clashes with the peasant militias known as the Naparama, who operate mainly in the provinces of Zambézia and Nampula, allegedly in defence of the local population. There are verified reports of dozens of Naparama members being killed in confrontations with the FADM.
PODEMOS, which supported the presidential candidacy of Venâncio Mondlane, the leader of the demonstrations, wants those responsible for the killings to be held accountable.
"We will present proposals to hold all those who ordered and carried out these acts accountable. We will also present proposals for compensation for all those who, due to the illicit actions by the police, suffered harm or injuries," explained Massingue. (NM)
