Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Mozambique's largest opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, on Tuesday blamed the government for "provoking" the riots that rocked Maputo earlier in the day.

Renamo spokesperson Fernando Mazanga accused the government of "repressing" the demonstrators "instead of listening to what the people were saying earlier".

The riots were sparked off by a rise of up to 50 per cent in the fares charged by the private transport operators who own the minibus-taxis that provide much of the passenger transport in Maputo. The fare rises were in turn a response to increases in the price of fuel, ordered by the government on 23 January.

Mazanga blamed "government neglect" for the price rises. While admitting that Mozambique, as a non-oil producer, cannot affect world oil prices, he claimed that the government could have cushioned the blow by building up stocks of fuel. "Serious governments use this measure so as not to prejudice their citizens", he claimed. "Those who create stocks of oil have the conditions to control the rise and fall of prices. By not envisaging this crucial activity, the Frelimo government shows that it is incompetent, without solutions for major questions".

(In fact, most countries do not keep huge stockpiles of fuel. The largest strategic petroleum reserve is held by the United States, and it can contain enough to supply the country for just 57 days. That is a crude oil reserve, and it was set up, not to control prices, but to cope with disruptions to supply.)

Mazanga blamed Frelimo's "lack of vision" not only for the fare rises, but also for the recent increase in the price of bread. "When the people are unable to buy bread, while there are those who show off their wealth, by driving in luxury cars, and building mansions, then this country is in crisis", he claimed.

Those who suffered from the increased fares "are not the leaders of Frelimo and their children - they have transport guaranteed", alleged Mazanga.

While clearly supporting the protests as "a constitutional right", Mazanga admitted that "some opportunist vandals may besmirch the just attitude of the public", and so he called on both the demonstrators and the government "not to exacerbate matters and to find a speedy way out of the crisis".

He urged the government "to look into its conscience and stop making the people suffer. This people is passive and calm, and it is the government that is provoking the situations happening today".