Debate on election law amendment postponed

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Debate on election law amendment postponed

11:10 CAT | 23 Mar 2023

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only

The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, has decided to postpone by a week a debate on amending the electoral legislation.

A bill proposed by the parliamentary group of the ruling Frelimo party seeks to reduce the period required for calling general elections from 18 to 15 months.

The presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 2024 must be held in October. If 15 October is the chosen date then, under the current law, the President of the Republic must announce that date by 15 April this year – which is less than a month away.

The Frelimo amendment would allow the President to postpone the announcement by three months, to mid-July.

Potentially, this makes a significant difference. A mid-April announcement would necessarily include elections to district assemblies, as envisaged under the 2018 amendments to the Mozambican constitution.

Frelimo, however, is opposed to district elections in 2024 – but the only legal way to avoid them is to amend the Constitution. Under normal circumstances, its takes a two thirds majority in the Assembly of the Republic to change the Constitution. But the bar is raised if the attempt to change the Constitution comes less than five years after the previous constitutional amendment. In that case any amendment requires a 75 per cent majority.

So, amending the Constitution in mid-April requires the votes of at least 188 of the 250 deputies, and there are only 184 Frelimo deputies. Passing the Frelimo amendment would require at least four opposition deputies to defect, and that seems highly unlikely.

But if the electoral law changes, so that the announcement of the general election date does not have to be made until mid-July, then Frelimo would only need 167 votes to carry a constitutional amendment.

The Frelimo argument is that the extra three months would provide time for a serious debate on whether the district elections should be held. In December, Nyusi said a commission would be set up to discuss the viability of the elections. This would be possible, if the decision on the general election date is postponed, but not otherwise.

The Frelimo group proposal states “since there is a need to expand this reflection and to consult various opinions and sensitivities about the opportunity and pertinence of holding the district elections in 2024”, then the deadline for setting the deadline for the general elections must be discussed first.

The Frelimo proposal was to have gone before the Assembly plenary on Thursday, but it has now been delayed until next week.

Source: AIM