Photo: African Elections Project

The ruling Frelimo party romped to victory in elections.

Maputo — The eleventh round of dialogue between the Mozambican government and the country's largest opposition party Renamo has ended with partial consensus on the issue of electoral legislation.

Renamo is refusing to take part in the municipal elections scheduled for 20 November unless the current electoral legislation is repealed. It has also threatened to disrupt the elections and the current voter registration.

Previous talks reached a stalemate, with Renamo insisting on a political agreement with the government before jointly presenting electoral legislation to the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, for adoption.

The government argued that this would be unconstitutional as it negates the separation of powers. In addition, there was simply no agreement on the proposals.

However, both negotiating teams have suggested that there has been some movement.

Speaking at a press conference after Monday's meeting in Maputo, the head of the government delegation, Agriculture Minister Jose Pacheco, said that the government agrees with some of the points raised by Renamo.

However, he said that there are points on which the government disagrees. In addition, there are issues that it wishes to raise on promoting democracy and a culture of peace.

Amongst the points discussed were the composition of the National Elections Commissions (CNE); the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE); voter registration; electoral campaigning; the media; polling stations; candidate requirements; ballot papers; the electoral count; and electoral disputes.

Pacheco urged Renamo to add further detail to some proposals and to readjust others. He stated that Renamo had accepted this recommendation but had asked for more time.

Pacheco pointed out that the government has sent the draft minutes from the previous meetings to Renamo's party headquarters for examination.

Renamo had refused to adopt the minutes, but Pacheco said, "everything leads us to believe that they will be signed".

Once again, the government attempted to raise the issue of dismantling Renamo's armed force. However, Renamo insisted that this be raised under the agenda point "defence and security" which it will not discuss until the point on the electoral legislation is completed.

In a similar vein, Pacheco stated that Renamo had refused to discuss a proposed meeting between its leader Afonso Dhlakama and President Armando Guebuza until after agreement on electoral legislation.

President Guebuza has invited Dhlakama to meet with him in Maputo, but Renamo demands that this can only take place if all police and military unit are withdrawn from the vicinity of Satunjira, in Gorongosa district, where Dhlakama is living.

The head of the Renamo delegation, Saimone Macuiana, told the reporters that his party had suggested alterations to some laws and that the government has agreed with the proposed document in general, but disagreed with some aspects.

He stated, "good consensus prevails between the parties so we can arrive at an agreement on fundamental issues. In this round, we have not signed any minutes but we are going to endorse them in the next meeting".