FRELIMO, RENAMO wrapup campaigns with counter-charges - Elections '99 - Sustainable Democracy

	Botswana 16 October 1999
	Malawi 15 June 1999
	Mozambique 3 December 1999
	Namibia 30 November 1999
	South Africa 2 June 1999

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FRELIMO, RENAMO wrapup campaigns with counter-charges
by Hugh McCullum

MAPUTO, 30 November 1999
The strain of a 49-day presidential and parliamentary election campaign here began to show as both major parties, the ruling Frelimo and the former rebel Renamo coalition charged each other with breaking electoral rules, random acts of violence and using both state and private media for propaganda purposes.

According to Frelimo activists, Renamo security guards attacked a group of Frelimo supporters in the central province of Zambezia over the weekend who were waving placards of President Joaquim Chissano in front of Renamo's leader, Afonso Dhlakama who was campaigning in a rural district. The security guards are alleged to have broken into a Frelimo office, smashing down doors and breaking furniture. Seven people were injured and a former Renamo deputy in the previous parliament, Rui de Sousa was arrested.

Renamo countered at a press conference late Monday with allegations that an unknown number of its supporters - more than 25 - were injured and admitted to hospital in Maputo on Saturday by Frelimo "thugs".

A Renamo spokesperson told a crowded press conference that Frelimo was "trying to keep us from contacting the people and has unleashed a wave of violence in Maputo. They are trying to revive the ghosts of war just as they did in 1994," said Gulamo Jafar.

Both leaders will hold mass rallies Tuesday, the last day of legal campaigning before voting starts Friday and Saturday (3-4 December). Chissano will hold his last rally in Maputo, a Frelimo support base and Dhlakama will close his campaign in his long-time stronghold at Beira in Sofala province.

Both sides claim victory is theirs although most observers and the media give Chissano a strong victory for the presidency but Renamo seems to have a good chance of winning enough seats in the Assembly of the Nation to deprive Frelimo of a two-thirds majority and perhaps even block the executive from proceeding with its programmes for development over the next five years.

Both sides have dismissed media speculation that Renamo might go back to war if it lost, although Chissano says there elements of Renamo who see violence as their only way of obtaining power.

Jafar chastised the media at his press conference, claiming the state-owned Noticias daily newspaper alleged that Renamo spent US$30 million to buy votes by giving people food. He said the allegation was false on two counts:
"we could have used that money for our campaign" and "it is true we gave people food but not for votes, they were starving and we helped from a humanitarian viewpoint because Frelimo's policies are making people hungry." The incident is said to have occurred in the northern Tete province.

While journalists tried to pin down both parties about the future should either lose, it is clear that Mozambique will not return to the pre-1992 days of civil war and rebellion.

"There may be a few in Renamo who will want to fight if they lose this election and there is no love lost between either leader or either party," a political analyst said in an interview. "However, if Dhlakama loses badly there will be internal problems in Renamo that could tear the party apart."

On the other hand if the status quo continues, vital amendments to the constitution and Chissano's development and reconstruction programme could be held back by what amounts to a hung parliament.

Mozambique parliamentary elections follow the proportional representation system with a five percent threshold. Cabinet members, including the prime minister, cannot be members of the Assembly of the Nation. The executive sets policies but parliament can block cabinet proposals for new legislation or major policy changes.

Frelimo charges that Renamo parliamentarians are deliberately preventing progress without offering alternatives. Some go so far as to accuse Renamo of lacking political legitimacy since it has not held a party congress in over five years to approve its leadership or set policies. Its decision to join in a coalition of 10 small parties was taken by a small elite around Dhlakama and other long-time Renamo members of the Assembly had to be removed or demoted from the proportional representation list in order to accommodate the new coalition members. The decisions on who was removed or demoted was taken by Dhlakama and six other senior Renamo leaders. The outcome has caused serious dissension among some party stalwarts.

The weather is also expected to play a role. Cold, heavy rains have swept into the country which, analysts say, could work against the urban vote where Frelimo is strongest and will not affect the rural areas as much.

"The middle class won't queue up in these heavy rains while the peasants are used to standing outside in all kinds of weather. If this (weather) continues it will wash out the rallies and keep urban voters indoors," a Frelimo activist says.

By now nearly 500 election observers from SADC, the Commonwealth, OAU, European Union, the Carter Centre in Atlanta, Ga., U.S.A are in the country and more are due to arrive soon, including former President Jimmy Carter of the U.S., accompanied by former Botswana president, Sir Ketumile Masire. (SARDC)

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