Mozambique Opposition in Little Hope of SADC Support
Noriko Watanabe and Kanako Mita
Modern Tokyo Times
Violence and protests continue to rock Mozambique after the disputed elections of October 9. The election predictably announced that Frelimo had won. However, this is disputed by Venancio Mondlane (head of PODEMOS).
Police have killed approximately 30 political protesters. At the same time, other coercive measures are being implemented by Frelimo.
Lee Jay Walker (Modern Tokyo Times analyst) says, “Frelimo has governed the nation since 1975. Hence, the ruling party manipulates to preserve power concentration.”
Sadly, opposition forces in Mozambique have little trust in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc to be honest brokers. Accordingly, it appears that South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe will rubber-stamp the deeds of Frelimo.
Khanyo Farise (Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for East and Southern Africa) says, “The situation in Mozambique gets worse every day as the death toll spirals, yet the SADC remains shockingly silent.”
Farise continued, “SADC has been painfully slow to respond to Mozambique’s crisis.”
The BBC reports, “Demonstrations started at the end last month in the capital, Maputo, after Daniel Chapo, the Frelimo candidate, was officially declared the winner with more than 71% of the vote.”
Pascoal Ronda (Interior Minister) announced that protests have now been “forbidden.”
Ronda said, “I no longer call these protests, I call them acts of subversion and terrorism because they terrorize people and children.”
However, Mondlane (head of PODEMOS) is adamant that protests are needed because of electoral fraud.
AP News reports, “Venancio Mondlane, the independent candidate who came second with 20% of the national vote, has challenged the result and is calling for nationwide protests. International observers have cited irregularities in the election.”
The Internation Crisis Group reports, “…on 18 October, unknown gunmen murdered Mondlane’s lawyer, Elvino Dias, who was preparing a legal challenge to the election results, and Paulo Guambe, a Podemos parliamentary candidate, as the two men traveled together in a car in Maputo. The brazen attack sent shock waves through Mozambique and drew worldwide condemnation, including from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the U.S. and the European Union.”
The approach by the SADC is currently inadequate. Hence, the fear is that Frelimo will continue to utilize the state apparatus to crush political dissent – including ongoing killings.
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