RENAMO and MDM boycott the investiture ceremony at the Assembly of the Republic

In a statement to our editorial team, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), through its Political Committee, decided in an extraordinary meeting held on Saturday that its deputies will not take office in the 10th Legislature of the Assembly of the Republic (AR) due to the dispute over the results of the general elections of October 9, 2024.

The Renamo Party, once considered the largest opposition party in Mozambique, concluded in an other session on Sunday afternoon (12), in an Ordinary Session held, in which the office of the party president, Ossufo Momade, the Nation al Political Commission decided not to be part of the current investiture ceremony in the AR.

The MDM spokesperson, Lutero Simango, confirmed that he had received a petition from its members, expressing their discontent with the current situation and demanding an immediate meeting with all members of this group. A group from this Movement sent a letter to the party leadership in Beira, requesting a meeting to discuss inter nal matters and accusing the party leadership of negotiating seats in parliament with Frelimo.

MDM members claim that “the president goes to meetings of the Presidency of the Republic and when he returns he does not say what was discussed. However, we see that the number of seats in the Assembly of the Republic has increased to eight. Eventually, this increase may involve changes, we do not know what the MDM will offer FRELIMO for having asked to receive four more deputies”, said Elias Impuire, representative of the protest group in the media.

Renamo Spokesperson Marcial Macome announced at a press conference that its 28 deputies will not be sworn into office in the AR, because”Renamo understands that the best way to achieve peace in the country would be to annul the election results. We call on the Mozambican people to use all peaceful means to build a free, fair and transparent Mozambique,” he said, adding that “it is necessary to respect, honor and the sovereign will of the people”, It also justifies that this measure results from the observation of irregularities that tainted the general elections, on October 9th, and which were approved by the Constitutional Council, when there were sufficient elements to invalidate them.

At issue are the meetings that opposition leaders have been holding with the President of Republic, Felipe Jacinto Nyusi, in the context of the ongoing dialogue framework. It should be remembered that this is not the first time that members of this parliamentary bench have boycotted the investiture ceremony of parliamentarians, in disagree ment with the election results, and as you know, Renamo lost its status as the largest opposition party, replacing the Mozambique Develop ment Party, PODEMOS.

The event to be chaired by the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, who by the way, is his last time presiding over this type of event as President of the Republic, will take place in the Assembly of the Republic on Monday, the 13th, at around 8 am. With the boycott by both opposition parties, there are a total of 219 deputies, of which 171 are from Frelimo and 28 from PODEMOS. In fact, the new President of the Assembly of the Republic, Margarida Talapa, was elected. Talapa, was once head of the Frelimo parliamentary bench and was dismissed from her post as Minister of Labor and Social Security a few days ago.