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Africa News afrol News
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Africa News afrol News
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afrol.com / African Eye News Service, 16 November - Mozambique opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama raised the spectre of an Angolan-style war of attrition this week after bloody anti-government demonstrations felt 41 dead but failed to force the ruling Frelimo to bow to demands for power-sharing. A defiant Dhlakama told the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday night that his former rebel movement, the Mozambique National Resistance (Renamo), and its alliance of 10 smaller opposition parties would return to the bush and take up arms unless it was granted legal authority over the country's six central and northern provinces. Renamo won a majority in the provinces during hotly contested general elections late last year, but failed to secure enough of the vote to appoint its own governors. Dhlakama, who also narrowly lost linked presidential elections by 47,7 percent to President Joaquim Chissano's 52,2 percent, alleges election fraud, has boycotted parliament for seven months and threatens to establish a parallel government unless there is an independent recount or new ballot. "We only want what is just. The elections in December were rigged by Frelimo and we were cheated out of our rightful place in government," said Dhlakama. Mozambique's Supreme Court and hundreds of international election monitors, including former US president Jimmy Carter, disagree however and have ruled the elections substantially free and fair. - We don't care. We know there was fraud. The vote was very close and it would not take much to give the wrong side victory, Dhlakama said on Wednesday.
The threat has sparked both outrage and fear in a war-scarred populace that has doggedly crawled its way out of a 16-year civil war that saw Mozambique classified as the world's poorest nation just eight years ago, to the fastest growing economy on the globe. Renamo's opposition alliance finally returned to parliament last week, on the eve of the bloody nationwide demonstrations that saw Renamo mobs seize police stations, government offices, telephone exchanges, arms and ammunition right across the country. The rioting left 41 dead, an estimated 200 injured and another 200 demonstrators behind bars. A Mozambican Human Rights League report on Thursday blamed police for many of the deaths, alleging that riot police fired without provocation on demonstrators in Nampula city on the first day of protests. The shooting is believed to have sparked violence in other northern provinces, with elite police and army units still monitoring hot-spots, including the traditional Frelimo stronghold of Montepuez which was overrun by heavily armed Renamo supporters in what has been described as the worst clash since the country's 1992 Rome Peace Accord. The 25 dead in Montepuez include seven policemen who tried to stop Renamo supporters sealing off the town and breaking into the local prison and police headquarters. Influential Mozambican political commentator and newspaper editor Carlos Cardoza said on Thursday that the violence appeared part of Dhlakama's "Al Capone syndrome" strategy to force government concessions. Describing Renamo's tactics as "politics by pressure, by threats, by attacks," he said the party appeared to be trying to force the government into a power-sharing agreement after realising its court challenges and parliamentary boycott were doomed. Cardoza warned, however, that there were still hardline factions within Frelimo that might attempt to meet Renamo provocation with force. "There is concern that factions in both Renamo and Frelimo will feed off each other and spark a snowball effect," said Cardoza. He supported calls by Anglican Archbishop Dom Denis Sengulane for a independent public commission of inquiry into the violence last week as a way to "cool things down". - I think an inquiry would point fingers in both directions, said Cardoza. Dhlakama's apparent change in strategy might also be motivated by reported growing tensions within Renamo's top ranks as former civil-war generals vent frustration at Dlhakama's failure to deliver promised jobs in the government after the elections. The fiery opposition leader's right-hand man, Raul Domingos, appears to be the first highprofile victim and was formally expelled from the party in September on treason charges. Domingos, who headed Renamo's negotiations for an election recount with government, was allegedly "fooled" into betraying the party by Mozambican transport minister Tomas Salomao's promises of financial assistance from for his struggling private company. Renamo national council chairman Ossufo Momade claimed at the time Domingos had used meetings with Frelimo negotiators to request a house and assistance in paying off a US $500 000 debt incurred by one of his private companies. President Chissano would only say Domingos asked for protection from his own party because he was "discontented" and feared for his safety. Chissano also rejected Renamo's terms for settlement, including demands that government pay Dlhakama a US$ 10 000 monthly salary, in addition to a US$ 1 million monthly payment to Renamo itself as an operational budget, and the appointment of selected Renamo leaders as provincial governors. Other key demands included the restructuring of Mozambique's army and the central intelligence agency. Renamo offered in return to drop its legal and public challenges of election results and would formally recognise the current government. Dhlakama would only say this week that Renamo refused to wait for a rematch during the 2002 elections. "We want power sharing. If Chissano is too ambitious to concede that he did not in fact win the 1999 elections but still wants peace, then he must at least accept power sharing at provincial level," he said. - All we want are our own governors in the six provinces we own. We will only recognise him as head of state if this basic demand is
met,
Dhlakama stated. Chissano publicly rejected the demands during a national day of mourning on Monday and instead accused Renamo of "barbarism". - African Eye News Service -
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