Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
16 July 2009
Maputo — Mozambican President Armando Guebuza on Thursday swore the chairperson of the Constitutional Council, Luis Mondlane, into office as a member of the Council of State.
Mondlane sits on the Council ex officio, as do Prime Minister Luisa Diogo, and the chairperson of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Mulembwe. All previous heads of state and of the Assembly also sit on the Council - currently there are only two of these, former President Joaquim Chissano, and Mulembue's predecessor, Marcelino dos Santos. The leader of the former rebel movement Renamo, Afonso Dhlakama, has a seat on the Council as the runner-up in the last presidential election.
Seven prominent figures chosen by the Assembly of the Republic also sit on the Council. They are Catholic Cardinal Alexandre dos Santos, veterans of the independence war Deolinda Guezimane and Teresa Tembo, the country's best-known painter Malangatana Nguenha, former Renamo officer Arlindo Maquival, and two former Renamo parliamentarians Jeremias Pondeca e Mário Naúla.
The Council of State is a body that advises the President of the Republic. The President must consult the Council before deciding on such matters as dissolving parliament, holding a referendum on any issue, declaring a state of war, siege or emergency, and on the date of general elections. The President may, if he wishes, also seek its advice on any other issue.
Speaking after the ceremony, Guebuza said he hoped Mondlane will contribute to making the Council a forum that reflects on proposals for the development of the country, and the promotion of its values.
"Thus it will be one of the ways in which we continue to implement the national anti-poverty agenda, which is the agenda of all Mozambicans", he stressed.
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