Proposal on decentralisation in Mozambique due in parliament this month

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Proposal on decentralisation in Mozambique due in parliament this month

12:38 CAT | 17 Nov 2016

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Proposals for decentralisation in Mozambique are expected to reach parliament later this month, according to peace talks mediation team coordinator Mario Raffaelli.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that this document is delivered to parliament later this month. It is very important that this happens,” Raffaelli told reporters at the peace talks in Maputo.

The document submitted earlier by the mediators to the government and Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) delegations in October proposed a “package of principles regarding the decentralisation process” in the context of the main opposition party’s demand to govern in the six provinces where it claims electoral victory in 2014.

“It is not a document that presents a law, it is a document that sets out the principles that should guide the law,” said European Union-appointed mediator Raffaeli, adding that, once the contributions of the parties were harmonised, the document would be sent to the Assembly of the Republic.

On Monday, when negotiations resumed after a two-week break, the two delegations submitted their replies to the mediators’ proposals, but their contents are not yet known.

“Now is the time to look at the documents and articulate the points,” Raffaelli said on Monday, adding that at this stage of the negotiations the group would continue to prioritise bilateral meetings with the two delegations rather the previous format of joint meetings.

In addition to Renamo’s demand to govern in six provinces and the immediate cessation of clashes, the agenda for the negotiation process includes separation between the Defence and Security Forces, including the police and state intelligence services, from political parties and the disarmament of the armed wing of the Renamo and its reintegration into civilian life.

The central and northern regions of Mozambique have been experiencing clashes between the armed wing of the main opposition party and the Defence and Security Forces, with mutual accusations of abductions and assassinations of political leaders on both sides.

Source: Lusa