The two men met in a room in Maputo’s Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre. This was the first time they had met since the general elections held on 9 October last year.
Chapo’s office issued a brief statement declaring that the meeting is part of “the continual effort to promote national stability and strengthen the commitment to reconciliation and unity among Mozambicans”.
The meeting, it added, “boosts the need to deepen reconciliation and consolidate a stable political environment, which is essential for the socio-economic development of the country”.
“Dialogue between the various political and social forces is a determinant step in restoring trust in the institutions and guaranteeing a harmonious future for all Mozambicans”, the statement continued, promising that “guided by the principles of the rule of law, of respect for human rights and for the best interests of the Mozambican people, the government is continuing its efforts to consolidate peace and stability”.
Mondlane issued an even shorter statement, saying that “in search for a national solution to the cry for help from the population with regard to the situation of extreme insecurity in which the country finds itself, I held a meeting with the Head of State on Sunday, to begin a mutual process of responding to the appeals and longings of the Mozambican people”.
Mondlane promised that, in the near future, he will make a live broadcast to explain the reasons for the meeting and outline the next steps to be taken. Neither Chapo nor Mondlane said what matters they had discussed.
Chapo, like his predecessor Filipe Nyusi, has been holding a dialogue with opposition political parties, but up until Sunday this dialogue had excluded Mondlane, who is not a member of any party.
But he is certainly the only opposition politician guaranteed to attract large crowds wherever he goes. The country’s highest body in matters of electoral law, the Consitutional Council, declared in December that Mondlane came second in the presidential election, with about 25 per cent of the vote, to 65 per cent for Chapo.
Mondlane dismisses these results as fraudulent, and says that in reality he won. Conformation of the claims of either Chapo or Mondlane has become quite impossible, because neither side has published the results sheets (“editais”) from the polling stations.
The Constitutional Council could have solved the problem, by ordering a recount of the votes. Instead, it chose to plunge the country into a political crisis which has cost the lives of over 300 people in clashes between Mondlane supporters and the police.
It remains to be seen whether the meeting between Chapo and Mondlane has cooled the political temperature, allowing a return to normality.