Mozambique: Government intends to help remove all SADC movement barriers
File photo: Sala da Paz
The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) yesterday expressed its “astonishment” at the announcement by Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi of the creation of a consultative group to assess the viability of the district elections scheduled for 2024, warning that any postponement would be unconstitutional.
“District elections are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic and, therefore, it surprises us to see that the same president who signed and approved the law revising this constitution is calling into question the same document today,” said José Manteigas, spokesperson for Renamo, the main opposition party in Mozambique.
At issue is the announcement made by the Mozambican head of state, Filipe Nyusi, during his annual briefing at the Assembly of the Republic on Tuesday about the creation of a consultative group to assess the viability of the district elections scheduled for 2024.
Doubts about the viability of the district elections were raised by the president himself in the middle of this year, at a time when the National Election Commission (CNE) was warning of budget limitations for the next electoral cycle in Mozambique.
The introduction of district elections from 2024 is part of the Peace and National Reconciliation Agreement signed in August 2019 between the government led by the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo) and Renamo, which maintains an “armed wing” that is in the process of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR).
Renamo regrets that it was not consulted on the creation of the consultative group, reiterating that the elections are part of an understanding signed between the two parties.
“Renamo has always been open to discussing these matters, but the Mozambican president has never put this issue on the table for our party, which, in addition to being a signatory to this agreement, is the main opposition party in Mozambique,” Manteigas declared.
A possible postponement of the district elections scheduled for 2024 would require a constitutional revision, which is only possible with the approval of a two-thirds majority of parliament and which can also only be done five years after the entry into force of the previous revision law, which occurred in 2018.
The Mozambican parliament is dominated by Frelimo, with a qualified majority of 184 of the 250 seats that make up the Assembly of the Republic, followed by Renamo, with 60, and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), with six seats.
In 2023, Mozambique begins a new electoral cycle, with the holding of municipal elections, which will be followed by general elections (presidential, legislative, provincial and possibly district) in 2024.
According to CNE data released in June this year, Mozambique needed around €287 million for the next electoral cycle
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