Maputo — The chairperson of the Assembly of the Republic, the Mozambican parliament, Eduardo Mulembue, described the chaotic events in the Assembly over the last few days as "a sad ending to this sitting" At a brief speech at the close of the sitting, brought forward by two days, Mulembue called on the deputies to remember that they were "elected by the people, and to serve the people".
This speech was directed at members of the Renamo-Electoral Union opposition coalition, who have been demonstrating noisily to demand the removal from the Assembly of five of their peers, who were elected on the Renamo list, but have left or been expelled from their party and by law are allowed to continue in parliament.
"It is sad that our people cannot have what they elected you for", said Mulembue, lamenting the opposition's behaviour in parliament over the past week.
It is doubtful that they even heard him. For throughout this closing session, the Renamo deputies continued their demented drumming on the tables, and their cacophonous orchestra of whistles, hooters and other crude musical instruments, For his part, the head of the parliamentary group of the ruling Frelimo Party, Manuel Tome, speaking above the din, declared that the police presence in the Assembly was perfectly legal. They had been called upon by Mulembue, as part of his prerogative "to maintain order, discipline, and the inviolability of the Assembly of the Republic". Tome pointed out that it is Mulembue's "exclusive responsibility to take the measures he deems appropriate".
Tome poured scorn on the Renamo claim that Frelimo had "enticed" the dissidents to break ranks with Renamo. It was not Frelimo who needed to bribe anyone, he said, since Frelimo already enjoys a comfortable overall majority in the Assembly (133 out of 250 seats).
He pointed out that there is nothing new about deputies keeping their seats after leaving the party on which they were elected. The same thing happened in the previous parliament when Antonio Palange was thrown out of the Liberal and Democratic Party (PALMO), and of the Democratic Union (UD), the coalition of which it was a member. Palange kept his seat right up to the end of that parliament, recalled Tome - and the five Renamo dissidents would keep their seats right up to the end of this one, if they so wished.
The head of the Renamo parliamentary group, Ossufo Quitine, was too busy banging on the table to make a speech. But he told Mozambican Television (TVM) later that Renamo would continue its noisy protests "until the end". By which he presumably meant they would sabotage the next sitting, due to begin in late February, as well.
Quitine claimed that allowing the five to remain in the Assembly would be to create a "third parliamentary group", and "the Constitution does not envisage any third parliamentary group".
Quitine is clearly not very familiar with the Mozambican constitution, which does not mention "parliamentary groups" at all. It merely mentions "deputies" and makes no provision at all as to how they are to organise themselves. Both the constitution and the Statute of Deputies clearly imply that deputies have no obligation to belong to any parliamentary group. Renamo sabotage, Mulembue's lax chairing, and the habitual lethargy of the Assembly meant that much of the agenda for the sitting was not discussed. Indeed, only 13 out of 30 agenda points were debated.
Among the important issues not debated were a new family law, alterations to the antiquated penal procedural code, and bills on class action, and on the status of the opposition.
