If all else fails, talk

Good afternoon. Who among the political parties wants to take up President Filipe Nyusi on his offer of a meeting to discuss solutions to the current political crisis over the disputed election results? The party that claims it won the election, Podemos, does not want one, although its presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has agreed to talks, subject to conditions (see Live Blog post below). Renamo, up to now the biggest opposition party in parliament, does not want one either. And Frelimo, the ruling party which stands accused of stealing the election, is probably not interested, despite the fact that Nyusi is its president.

Frelimo has yet to comment officially on the situation, but the remarks of its first secretary in Maputo, António Niquice, are likely to be representative. Niquice was seen on TV yesterday declaring that there should be no doubt that Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo would be inaugurated as president in January — provided that the Constitutional Council, the court with the final say on elections, confirmed the official results giving him victory. 

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From the Zitamar Live Blog:

Zitamar Mozambique Live Blog

Opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has said he agrees to hold talks with President Filipe Nyusi on the political crisis following last month’s disputed elections, subject to agreeing an agenda for the discussions. In a live video stream on Facebook today, Mondlane said he would send an agenda with 20 points for discussion to Nyusi, which he has promised to release tomorrow. He also demanded that the talks should be held in public. His announcement comes after Nyusi’s office formally invited Mondlane and other opposition leaders to talks in person at his office on Tuesday 26 November. Modlane called on his supporters to continue their protests peacefully tomorrow, in a series of events between 12pm and 2am on Saturday. He asked for people to sound their car horns at 12pm, followed by singing of the national anthem in memory of opposition figures Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, who were killed last month. Mondlane also asked for pots and pans to be banged from 9pm, followed by a three-hour vigil from 11pm. Mondlane said there was a need for peaceful protests, that violence was not needed and that the main objective of the demonstrations was to restore justice. The link for Venâncio Mondlane’s Facebook Live event is attached. https://www.facebook.com/venamondlane/videos/1627160981550650 Sign up for Zitamar’s daily briefing email here Follow Zitamar on our Telegram Channel, on BlueSky, Twitter / X, Facebook, and Linkedin ...to keep abreast of all the latest developments in #Mozambique

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It is true that none of this makes dialogue between the parties look very likely. And Podemos leader Albino Forquilha makes an obvious point when he says that, if Nyusi wants to end the crisis, he should just tell the Constitutional Council to do its job and reject the manipulation of the election results. It would also be hard for Venâncio Mondlane to attend a meeting, when the authorities are trying to arrest him. After two people close to Mondlane, Elvino Dias and Paulo Guambe, were shot dead last month, he would do well to be very careful.