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Parliament Opens With Conflicting Visions

Maputo — As has become normal, the formal speeches on Wednesday opening a sitting of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, painted pictures so divergent that it was hard to believe that the speakers were referring to the same country.

Margarida Talapa, head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Frelimo Party, spoke of advances made in implementing the government's five year programme for 2010-2014, while for Viana Magalhaes, speaking for the main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, all was a scenario of gloom and corruption.

Talapa declared that, despite natural disasters such as the floods of this rainy season, and despite the international financial crisis, the government has chalked up substantial successes.

She mentioned the continued expansion of the electricity grid, of the mobile phone services, of the country's banks, and of water supply.

"Investment in drinking water infrastructure is visible and encouraging", said Talapa, stressing "the construction and rehabilitation of over 2,400 water sources, and 226 standpipes, benefiting more than 1.2 million people, and over 38,000 new urban water connections, benefiting over 190,000 people".

She listed new secondary schools, new district and general hospitals, and the "noteworthy improvement in access to health services, a necessary condition for citizens to take part in the fight against poverty".

The massive coal mining projects at Moatize, in Tete province, "are beginning to have an impact on the life of the public, providing about 9,000 jobs and stimulating the development of the economy", she said,

The new Maputo Airport International Passenger Terminal, inaugurated in December, Talapa added, would improve care for airline passengers and would be "a real welcoming card for tourists and investors".

None of this optimism and enthusiasm could be found in the speech given by Magalhaes. Instead he attacked the programme to build monuments to the country's first president, Samora Machel, this year (which the government has proclaimed "Samora Machel Year", since it is the 25th anniversary of his death).

"Would it not be a better homage to Samora, if the government were to invest such resources in solving the serious problems of shortage of transport in the county's cities?", Magalhaes suggested.

From such statements, one might imagine that Renamo admired Samora Machel - whereas in reality it fought tooth and nail in the early 1980s to overthrow him, and lost no opportunity to vilify him on its radio station "Voz da Africa Livre" ("Voice of Free Africa").

Both Magalhaes and Lutero Simango, head of the parliamentary group of the Mozambique Democratic movement (MDM), called on the government to renegotiate its contracts with the mega-projects, on the grounds that they are receiving excessive tax exemptions.

But neither Magalhaes nor Simango mentioned which mega-projects they had in mind. For, although the opposition parties seem unaware of the fact, each contract is different, and the generous fiscal benefits offered to the first mega-project, the Mozal aluminium smelter, have not been offered to the more recent projects, such as the coal mines being developed by the Brazilian and Australian companies, Vale and Riversdale, in Tete province.

Magalhaes concentrated heavily on illegal immigration and piracy. "Our coast has been the target of piracy and everything indicates there is no way to defend it", he lamented.

He was referring to the seizure by Somali pirates of the Mozambican fishing vessel, the "Vega 5", on 27 December. He accused the officials of the Fisheries Ministry who have handled the case of "incompetence" and "ignorance", but did not indicate what Renamo would have done differently.

But apparently Renamo favours a military solution - for he complained that the country was undefended "although a large percentage of the state Budget is channeled to the defence and security forces" (in fact, defence and security accounts for around four per cent of the budget).

Magalhaes denounced the looting of Mozambican forestry resources, and blamed it on senior Frelimo and government figures - even though it was government institutions that recently prevented the illegal export to China of unprocessed hardwoods and ivory.

"The illicit participation in the looting of the country's resources by some figures in power has to stop, because it is fomenting and increasing social tension", Magalhaes declared.

Magalhaes also claimed that democracy in Mozambique is "a mirage", and made the standard Renamo claim that people who are working in the public administration are forced to become members of Frelimo. As usual, Magalhaes did not cite a single name of anyone obliged to join Frelimo against their will.

Source/fonte: Allafrica - 09.03.2011

Rflectindo: Será que há equilibrio jornalístico neste artigo?