Mozambique opposition leader sets conditions for post-vote talks

MAPUTO – Mozambique’s opposition leader said he would accept the president’s offer of talks after deadly post-election unrest on terms including they be held virtually and legal proceedings against him are dropped.
President Filipe Nyusi invited Venancio Mondlane to his office in Maputo on November 26 after the killing of dozens of people in a police crackdown on demonstrations against the results of the October 9 election.
Mondlane, who says the election was rigged in favour of Nyusi’s Frelimo party, is believed to have left the country for fear of arrest or attack, but his whereabouts are unknown.
“We are open to dialogue,” Mondlane said in a Facebook live address. “It has to be a genuine dialogue, it cannot be full of traps.”
A written reply to Nyusi’s invitation lists as one condition for the meeting: “That the participation of the elected candidate Venancio Mondlane be virtual.”
Authorities have laid criminal and civil charges against him, including for damages caused during protests by his supporters, which has led to his bank accounts being frozen.
Another condition in the document made public by Mondlane’s office is that “the judicial proceedings in question must be immediately terminated”.
It also lays out 20 points that Mondlane wants on the agenda for talks, including “restoring electoral truth” and prosecuting anyone involved in vote-rigging. 
Others are a public apology and compensation for the deaths during the demonstrations, as well as constitutional, economic and electoral reforms. 
Rights groups have accused Mozambique authorities of using live ammunition on demonstrators in the impoverished country, which has been governed since independence from Portugal in 1975 by Frelimo. 
The Centre for Democracy and Human Rights civil society group says around 65 people have been killed. Mondlane on Friday gave a toll of more than 60. Nyusi said Tuesday 19 people had died, including five police officers. 
The president is meant to hand over in January to Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo, whom the election authority says won 71 percent of votes against 20 percent for Mondlane.
The unrest was discussed on Wednesday by regional leaders at a summit of the 16-nation southern Africa grouping SADC, which said in a statement afterwards it “extended condolences to the government and people” for the lives lost.
Human Rights Watch criticised the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Friday for failing to denounce Mozambique for excessive use of force.
“SADC has squandered an opportunity to publicly condemn human rights abuses against post-election protesters in Mozambique,” it said in a statement.
The rights watchdog urged the grouping to tell Nyusi’s government to respect the right to peaceful protest and cease using unnecessary and excessive force.