ELECTIONS WILL TAKE PLACE WITH OR WITHOUT DHLAKAMA

Mozambique’s presidential elections will take place in October, with or without the participation of Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo, declared the secretary for mobilisation and propaganda of the ruling Frelimo Party, Damiao Jose, on Sunday.Cited in Tuesday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Jose was speaking in the southern province of Inhambane, where he is part of a Frelimo Central Committee brigade preparing the party for the elections.He dismissed fears that the elections will have to be postponed because Dhlakama is still in hiding, and his exact whereabouts are unknown.Jose said that a refusal by Dhlakama to take part in the elections would not be a problem for Mozambican democracy, although it would be preferable if Renamo had a presidential candidate and did not simply boycott the polls.He pointed out that there is an electoral timetable, and it must be scrupulously obeyed. Elections would not be postponed “because Dhlakama is still in the bush. With or without Dhlakama, the Mozambican people are going to vote. That is why Frelimo is on the ground preparing its victory, and that of its presidential candidate, Filipe Nyusi”.He claimed that people who once believed that Renamo could be an alternative to Frelimo are having second thoughts, “because they have now understood that this former rebel movement remains irresponsible, intransigent and against the country’s development”.In its dialogue with Renamo, he continued, the government had shown that its interest was to consolidate national unity, and maintain peace and development while Renamo’s goals were “just to mistreat the Mozambican people”.The concessions the government had made to Renamo showed its desire to see the people developing their activities freely and spontaneously, but that was not the case with Renamo. “It’s clear that Renamo has two factions”, he said, “one living well in Maputo, and another which only knows how to destroy and hurt its brothers”.Asked whether the Renamo armed incursion into Inhambane in January would not damage the elections by dissuading citizens from voting, Jose said the government is working to eliminate foci of violence and destabilisation not only in Inhambane and the neighbouring province of Sofala (where the overwhelming majority of armed attacks have taken place), but throughout the country “because threats to order and security are important factors, not only for elections, but also for attracting investment”.Dhlakama has not been seen in public since the armed forces (FADM) overran his bush headquarters at Satunjira, in Sofala, on 21 October. Since then he has been in contact with journalists and Renamo officials by mobile phone. He is believed to be still in Sofala, probably in the densely wooded slopes of the Gorongosa mountain range.