Mozambique: President sets 5 March as date for signing of state reform agreement

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Mozambique: President sets 5 March as date for signing of state reform agreement

1:12 CAT | 28 Feb 2025

File photo: Noticias

Mozambique’s president, Daniel Chapo, has announced plans for the signing on 5 March of an agreement with political parties regarding the conditions for state reforms, as part of the post-election political dialogue underway in the country.

“Today we reached one hundred percent consensus on the content of the document,” declared Chapo on Thursday, after another session of dialogue with the political parties aimed at putting an end to the crisis triggered by October’s contested elections. “Once we reached one hundred percent consensus, we moved on to the next phase, which was setting a date and we came to the conclusion that it would be best to set the fifth of March for the signing.”

In addition to those parties with seats in parliament – namely Podemos, Renamo and the MDM, as well as the extra-parliamentary New Democracy, Thursday’s dialogue was attended by other parties with seats in the provincial and municipal assemblies who, said Chapo, “familiarised themselves with the document.”

The agreement, the president said, will be signed at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre in the country’s capital at 3 p.m. local time on 5 March.

On 19 February, Chapo said that the possibility of a constitutional revision was being considered, as part of the dialogue to end the post-election crisis, with the inclusion in the dialogue of at least four other parties that make up the provincial assemblies.

Since October, Mozambique has been wracked by widespread social unrest, with demonstrations and stoppages called by former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who rejects the official results of the 9 October elections, which handed victory to Chapo and the governing party, Frelimo.

The protests, now on a smaller scale, have continued to take place in different parts of the country. As well as contesting the election results, people are now also complaining about the rising cost of living and other social problems.

Since October, at least 353 people have died in the protests, including around two dozen minors, and around 3,500 have been injured, according to Plataforma Eleitoral Decide, a non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.

The government has confirmed the deaths of at least 80 people, as well as the destruction of 1,677 commercial establishments, 177 schools and 23 health centres during the demonstrations.

Source: Lusa