Mozambique's opposition leader says to punish those taking seats in new parliament

The leader of Mozambique's main opposition, the former rebel movement Renamo, Afonso Dhlakama, has threatened to punish anyone who is going to defy his order that Renamo's elected deputies of the parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, should not take their seats.

Dhlakama and his party are in protest against the results of the October 15 general elections won by the ruling Frelimo party and its presidential hopeful, Jacinto Nyusi.

The Renamo leader claims that the Frelimo government rigged the polls, the fifth since Mozambique became independent in 1975.

Dhlakama announced Renamo's boycott of the swearing-in ceremony of the country's legislative body to be held on Monday. Frelimo has 144 deputies, Renamo with 89 and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) with 17 deputies out of 250 seats in the house.

Spokesperson for the parliament, Jose Katupha, told Xinhua on Sunday that with or without Renamo deputies, the inauguration of the new parliament will go ahead on Monday.

President Armando Guebuza will chair the first session of the legislative body. The elected Renamo deputies have to weigh these threats against the loss of their large parliamentary wages, and all the privileges that go with being a member of the house.

Dhlakama also threatened a boycott after the 2009 general elections. But at the inauguration of that parliament in January 2010, 16 deputies, from the central Zambezia province, ignored Dhlakama and took their seats.

The rest of the Renamo deputies trickled in and took the oath of office in the next two or three weeks. Under the parliamentary standing orders, any deputy who does not take the oath of office within 30 days of the inauguration of the new parliament loses his or her seat.

Another consequence of the boycott is that Renamo will lose its large state subsidy, which is dependent on the existence of a Renamo parliamentary group. Endi