The President of Mozambique passed an amendment to the Basic Law on Local Governments

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi unveiled on Tuesday an amendment to the Basic Law of Local Government that, among other amendments, randomizes the replacement of the mayor of a municipality in the event of disability due to death or illness.

According to information from the Administration of the President of the Republic, the head of state “promulgated and published the Basic Law on the Creation, Organization and Activities of Local Self-Government Bodies,” repealing the previous legislation of 2018.

“[A lei] was recently approved by the Assembly of the Republic and submitted to the President of the Republic for promulgation, while the Head of State made sure that it does not contradict the basic law,” the note from the Presidium says.

On August 7, the Mozambique Parliament finally approved an amendment to the Basic Law of Local Government, which establishes an occasional replacement for the mayor of a municipality in the event of disability due to death or illness.

After the approval of the text, the automatic appointment as mayor number two on the list of electoral winners falls, in the event of the death of the head of the list, in accordance with the proposal made possible by 175 votes in favor of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), the party in power and with a qualified majority in 250 seats in parliament.

The winning party will now be able to nominate any member of its list by virtue of the approved amendments.

With 45 votes against, the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), the main opposition party, and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), a third political force, rejected the document. Previously, Frelimo voted alone for the revision as a whole, while Renamo and MDM voted against it as a bloc.

The approved changes also strengthen the powers of the central government in relation to local governments.

Among the innovations introduced by the text of the law is the empowerment of the Council of Ministers to ensure the functioning of municipalities during the transitional period between the existing municipal authorities and the investiture of the newly elected.

The law contributes to the harmonization of the terms of office and the term of office of elected bodies, given that in the previous regime there was an overlap between them.

The diploma expresses the principle of the gradual transfer of powers from the central to the local authorities in the social and economic spheres, depending on the development of each autarchy.

It also affirms that the creation of autarchy will take into account the relative ability of the territory to meet its costs and the ability to meet the needs of the communities to which it is introduced, in accordance with the principle of gradualism.

“We, the deputies of the Frelimo parliamentary group, voted in general for the proposal to revise the law establishing the legal framework related to the exercise of local authorities, because it is expedient and timely,” said MP Gonçalves Maceda.

Renamo justified the leadership of the proposal by the concentration of powers in the central executive branch and the limited devolution of powers to the municipalities.

“We, the Renamo parliamentary group, aware and aware of our responsibilities, have voted against expressing the feelings of those Mozambicans who, since 1998, have agreed to take on this task of leading local authorities,” said António Muchanga.

MDM’s Silverio Ronguane stressed that the collegium voted against to warn the populations of the opposition municipalities that the provision of better basic services would only be possible “if the government agrees to the devolution”.

Mozambique has 65 municipalities, including 12 new ones, which will hold elections for the first time in a vote on 11 October.

In the 2018 municipal elections, Frelimo won 44 out of 53 municipalities, while the opposition only won nine, Renamo eight and MDM one.