The opposition political parties reiterated yesterday (Monday 30) that they do not accept the results of the general elections of October 9, but said they are open and available for dialogue with a view to reforms in the country, in the face of the crisis that exists.

The position was expressed by representatives of Renamo, Nova Democracia, Movimento Democrático de Moçambique (MDM) and Partido Optimista para o Desenvolvimento de Moçambique (PODEMOS) at a meeting with Filipe Nyusi at the Presidency of the Republic, which was also attended by Frelimo and presidential candidate Daniel Chapo.

By way of welcome, Nyusi said he believed "in our capacity, because when the matter is dealt with by ourselves it is a matter that allows us to find a solution without schemes, without arrangements, without interests".

According to a VOAThe Head of State, who called the meeting, stressed that "there are no small people, there are no small parties, Mozambique belongs to everyone and we have to be in a position to carry all sensitivities".

At the end, as spokesman for the meeting, the President of the MDM explained that the political parties that ran in the elections had once again said that they "do not recognize the results announced" by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC).

Reading a communiqué, without the right to questions from journalists, Lutero Simango said that the four political parties, three of which will have parliamentary seats in the Assembly of the Republic from January, will hold an "internal dialogue" before taking "subsequent steps", which will be communicated to the press.

Despite defending the reform of the institutions, Simango said that "throughout this internal dialog, [the parties] have assumed that they will continue to dialog with the sole objective, in a collective way, of making a political commitment to reforms in the country, because there is a need to establish a new social pact to change Mozambique and this necessarily involves reforms".

Those parties, according to Simango, recalled that Mozambicans spoke loud and clear in the general elections on October 9 and suggested that they should be listened to. "We will do everything for the well-being of Mozambicans," concluded the MDM leader.

The President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, did not comment publicly after the meeting.

The post-election crisis has been marked by protests against what the opposition considers to be electoral fraud, which have been strongly repressed by the police authorities, but which have nevertheless led to a wave of vandalizations of public and private infrastructure, as well as the escape of prisoners.

The Decide Electoral Platform, a civil society organization that counts deaths and injuries, said that since 21 October, 277 deaths and 586 gunshot wounds have been recorded.

(Photo DR)