Africa-Press – Mozambique. Deputies from Renamo may take up their seats in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, in the near future, despite boycotting the investiture on 13 January.
The Renamo spokesperson, Marciel Macome, cited by the independent television station STV on Friday, told reporters “Right now, I’m here and I’m telling you that Renamo will take its seats”.
The Renamo Political Commission, he said, “has decided that the deputies can take office in the coming days, and they will do this in accordance with a notice sent to the Assembly of the Republic so that they can take up their seats”.
Renamo did not attend the investiture, as a way of protesting against election results it regarded as fraudulent, and of demanding “the truth about the elections”. Less than a fortnight later, Renamo has abandoned its boycott.
This was expected. Maintaining the boycott would mean losing the state subsidy paid to all parties with parliamentary representation. It would also mean that the 28 Renamo deputies would no longer receive their monthly parliamentary wage.
Macome did not give an exact date for the Renamo deputies taking up their seats, but he insisted it will be soon.
He also announced that the next meeting of the Renamo National Council will take place on 7-9 March, in the southern municipality of Vilanculo. This is the only municipality in southern Mozambique that Renamo controls.
The National Council will certainly have to face demands from the membership for the removal of the party’s President, Ossufo Momade. His uninspiring leadership is widely blamed for Renamo’s poor showing in the October elections, when Renamo lost its position as runner-up to the relatively new opposition party, Podemos.
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