- The leader of the opposition says he will send an agenda for talks tomorrow
- But there is a risk that Mondlane will be detained at this meeting, since he is accused of a crime against State security
By António Cumbane
Maputo (MOZTIMES) - Mozambican presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane said on Thursday that he is willing to enter into a dialogue with President Filipe Nyusi, but that this meeting should also be attended by Daniel Chapo, the Frelimo presidential candidate, Lutero Simango, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement Moçambique (MDM) and the president of PODEMOS, Albino Forquilha. He also insisted that the meeting should have a clear agenda.
Mondlane was speaking from an undisclosed location in a broadcast transmitted live on his Facebook page. He announced that on Friday, he will send Nyusi a proposal that should be discussed at the meeting.
“The proposal of the President of the Republic is for a meeting between the four candidates and the president of PODEMOS. I, Venâncio Mondlane, agree to take part in this dialogue but the meeting should have an agenda, and so that I don’t go there empty handed, tomorrow I shall submit to the President a notice signed by me and supported by various citizens who, throughout this period I have asked for their opinions about the demonstrations. The agenda has 20 points, and we shall share it with the Mozambican people and the international community”, he said.
He also claimed that during this period, he has received more than 40,000 emails from Mozambican citizens proposing how the demonstrations of opposition to the election results should be conducted.
Mondlane has ordered a stop to street demonstrations, calling for no unnecessary violence. But the support through motorists sounding their horns and dressed in mourning clothes will continue until Friday. Then other, as yet unspecified, stages in the demonstrations will follow.
On Tuesday, during an address to the nation, the Mozambican President appealed, in the name of life, peace and dialogue, for no use of violence in the demonstrations which, according to data from the electoral observation platform “Decide”, have already cost the lives of 67 people.
A letter from the President’s office has invited Mondlane to a meeting to be held in the President’s office on 26 November, at 16.00, to discuss the situation in the country in the post-election period.
But there is a risk that Mondlane will be arrested since the Public Prosecutor’s Office has accused him of a crime against state security because he called a mass demonstration intended to seize power through unconstitutional means.
In the past a senior opposition figure and member of the Council of State was arrested, breaking his immunity, after a meeting in the President’s office.
Opposition to the election results surged after local and international observers, and opposition political parties denounced cases of election fraud, including ballot box stuffing, during the elections of 9 October (AC).
