Work in the Mozambique Parliament was interrupted this Wednesday after protests by the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), the main opposition party.
“Down with dictatorship” and “Don’t kill democracy” are some of the posters put up by Renamo deputies refusing to discuss amendments to the electoral law proposed by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling party.
It is about holding district elections as part of the general elections in October 2024, which Frelimo considers unfeasible, while Renamo emphasizes that they are provided for by the Constitution after its former leader Afonso Dlacama and President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi.
Due to the stalemate at 9:00 am (8:00 am in Lisbon), Parliament Speaker Esperanza Bias adjourned, while opposition MPs were already chanting and chanting.
Frelimo’s proposal seeks to move the announcement of the general election date from April to July (reducing the statutory deadline from 18 to 15 months), on the grounds that time must be allowed to debate the viability of district elections. .
However, Renamo and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) say that Frelimo’s goal is to remove district elections from the Constitution without the need for opposition votes, as since June (five years after the last amendment to the basic law) he can do so with two -a third of the votes in parliament – that he has.
That is, on the day the general election is to be called, in July, the vote for district administrators (still appointed by the central government) may be cancelled.
Frelimo bench spokesman Feliz Silvia told Television Mozambique (TVM) live from Parliament this Wednesday that the will of the party “was not to revise [a lei] alone,” but regarding constitutional change, “if conditions are created and Frelimo has the opportunity, it will revise.”
“If we have to revise the Constitution to postpone these elections, naturally we will continue,” he said.
Arnaldo Chalaua, spokesman for the Renamo bench, stated that “the unified bench cannot change and approve” the electoral laws, “it must be a consensus.”
“This outrage, the demonstration is the only reservation” left to the opposition, he said after Frelimo submitted the motion to a vote in the plenary meeting this Wednesday.
“The complaint is being filed with the People’s Chamber, here,” he said, challenging what he sees as Frelimo’s strategy to “consider the Constitution in the usual way, with two-thirds” of parliament, because “you already know that three-quarters have no conditions” .
The MDM bench left the room when the proposal was presented “to show that democracy is in danger,” said Fernando Bismarck, a spokesman for the bench.
The deputy said that in addition to postponing the district elections, the change in the Constitution could “make the third presidential term viable”, reviving the scenario that is being commented on in political circles, but without an official position.
Mozambique is entering a new electoral cycle this year, with municipal elections on 11 October and general elections in 2024.
Frelimo dominates the Assembly of the Republic with a supermajority of 184 deputies, followed by Renamo with 60 seats and MDM with six seats.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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