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Mozambique: Political Problems There was great pressure, following the peace accords in Mozambique, for a "quick fix", especially by the Americans who wanted to end as quickly as possible the expensive peacekeeping operation. They demanded rapid national elections with RENAMO and FRELIMO converted to Western-style political parties and two-party government as close as possible to the American model. Money flowed into these two new parties, especially RENAMO, from the US government institutes associated with the Democratic and Republican parties. It was obvious that disaster was on the way. At one point the US ambassador to the United Nations, Madeleine Albright came to Mozambique to keep up the pressure for the rapid elections. I told my friends they should go to her press conference and ask three questions: how many years after the Declaration of Independence was the first US election; how many parties were on the ballot, and who was the Presidential candidate? She would have to answer, 16 years, one party, and the candidate was the general who won the war. If Mozambique had been given 16 years, perhaps they could have developed democratic elections appropriate to a culture of peace. Instead, elections were pushed through in 1994, just two years after the peace accords. Voting took place along ethnic lines, as few people understood the process or what the parties stood for. Capitalizing on discontent with government policies, RENAMO gained about 45% of the vote. The victorious FRELIMO government, instead of reaching out for a government of national unity, retreated into a "winner-takes-all" position, a "garrison-mentality" of suspicion, conspiracy and corruption. When it was presented a few months later with the culture of peace programme for its approval before going to the funding agencies, the government refused to sign on. After all, the culture of peace programme was based on the idea that those who had been in conflict must now work together. Meanwhile, the FRELIMO legislators refused to work with those from RENAMO. The parliament was disabled and could not function. Noel did what he could to get through to the remaining honest officials in the new government for their support, but Graça Machel was engaged in other efforts and rarely available. We tried another approach, working with the newly elected parliament (the National Assembly) of Mozambique. In coordination with the Commonwealth Secretariat and with the support of the Canadian Development Authority, Noel led a group of Mozambican parliamentarians on a study tour. They went to meet with parliamentarians in South Africa where the ANC was making a determined effort to develop a government of national unity with the other political forces in the country. Visits were also scheduled with parliamentarians in Malawi and Namibia, but the latter was abandoned with the local UNESCO office failed to make the arrangements that had been promised. At first the Mozambican parliamentarians from opposing political parties did not even talk with each other, but thanks to Noel's persistence, by the end of the trip there was a feeling of comraderie and common challenge. Noel, along with the representative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, wrote a brilliant report of the initiative. But for reasons I will now explain, the report was almost never submitted and it was difficult to develop a follow-up. |