By Sheila Nhancale
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – Albino Forquilha, the leader of Podemos, the largest opposition party in Mozambique, has reacted to the recent declarations of Venâncio Mondlane, dealing with the strategic differences between the two men, and the allegations that he had violated an agreement between them.
At a Maputo press conference on Wednesday, Forquilha stressed that, although there is agreement on objectives and on the vision of governance, there are clear differences on the methods to be used to achieve “the electoral truth”.
“In terms of objectives and vision of governance, we are together”, said Forquilha. “But we really diverge on the strategy of struggle”.
Forquilha added that PODEMOS favours dialogue and political harmonisation, particularly after the validation of the election results by the Constitutional Council, while Mondlane still believes that protests are the best way of opposing the results. “While Venancio still thinks that continuing the protests in the same form as in the past is the best way to achieve electoral truth, we believe that there are other mechanisms”, declared the PODEMOS leader. He recognised that these differences have created perceptions of a possible split.
As for the criticisms made by Mondlane, who has publicly questioned aspects of the coalition agreement between them, Forquilha reaffirmed the commitment of PODEMOS to comply with all the clauses agreed, including those which grant specific rights to Mondlane. “I don’t know why he questions this”, he said. “We have to comply with what is in the agreement. We cannot be a party which hopes to enter government and then break our agreements”, said Forquilha.
But Forquilha criticised Mondlane for publicly exposing the agreement since it includes a confidentiality clause. “When aspects of the agreement are questioned in public, the public is being invited to know about the agreement. We think that this is a violation of the agreement itself”.
Positions and rights envisaged in the agreement between Mondlane and PODEMOS
The coalition agreement gives Mondlane the right to appoint cadres for public positions, such as members of the National Elections Commission, chosen on the basis of parliamentary representation, and to appoint 50% of the staff of the PODEMOS parliamentary group. Mondlane also has the right to receive 5% of the annual sums paid to the party that is the runner-up in general elections. Despite the tensions, Forquilha guaranteed that these rights will be respected. “Even if there were some split, these rights will be respected. We shall comply with them”, declared Forquilha.
Forquilha also stressed that any question related with the agreement must be handled directly with Mondlane, since in this context nobody else can represent him. (SN)
