The Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos) yesterday filed a criminal complaint against the spokesman for the General Command of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM), Orlando André Mudumane.

The party that supports Venâncio Mondlane's independent candidacy claims that Mudumane has accused supporters of the political formation of vandalism and plans to attack key state institutions, without evidence or grounds.

"The General Police Command, in the person of its spokesman, Mr. Orlando Mudumane, has announced since December 6 that it has information that the Podemos party is organizing a group to carry out some criminal acts such as raiding police subunits and penitentiary establishments in order to release prisoners and seize military equipment and then carry out a coup d'état. That was our understanding," said the party spokesman.

Sebastião Mussanhane believes that the pronouncements that have been made by Mudumane are part of a coordinated action for the PRM to invoke some "legality" and raid the homes of party members, especially those in the leadership.

"... to [also] be able to pursue them, to assassinate them, justifying the fact that they were looking for war material taken from the subunits," he said.

Speaking to journalists, Mussanhane claims that Mudumane's pronouncements tarnish the good name of the Podemos party.

"These words worry us, because we see them as incitement to hatred in order to demonize Podemos' fight to restore electoral truth. We have seen a PRM that has dressed itself up as a politician. The PRM's actions at this time are not defense and security. For these reasons we have decided to submit this criminal complaint. We want the PGR to take the necessary steps to restore the party's good name," he said.