Maputo — As promised, Mozambique's ruling Frelimo Party has submitted a draft constitutional amendment that will eliminate the obligation to hold elections for district assemblies in 2024.
According to the independent television station STV, Frelimo submitted its amendment on Wednesday. Frelimo parliamentary spokesperson Felix Silvia said the amendment sets no timetable, but merely states that district elections will be held "when the conditions are effectively created'.
The commitment to hold district elections in 2024 was part of a package of constitutional amendments on decentralization, approved by the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, in 2018, after negotiations between the government and the main opposition party, Renamo.
At the time, nobody asked how district elections would be financed, or what powers district assemblies would have.
Last year, President Filipe Nyusi called for a reflection on the viability and pertinence of district elections, much to the fury of Renamo, and of the second opposition party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) which took the position that, since the elections are in the Constitution, they must be held.
The government set up a 15 member commission on the viability of the district elections (CRED), which reported back last week saying that it would be impossible to hold the elections in 2024. The opposition claimed that CRED was unconstitutional and boycotted it.
There is no doubt that the Frelimo constitutional amendment will pass, if is put before the Assembly in mid-June. By then five years will have elapsed since the previous set of constitutional amendments, and further amendments can be passed with a two thirds majority of the deputies, which Frelimo can easily muster since its holds 184 (73.6 per cent) of the 250 parliamentary seats.
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The amendment, Silva said, would benefit not only the political parties, "but also the entire population. When consulted by the Commission, the population said clearly that we do not meet the conditions for district elections'.
Despite the Frelimo constitutional amendment, President Filipe Nyusi said on Wednesday that the government remains open to further reflection on the district elections.
Speaking in the southern city of Matola, at the opening of a meeting of the National Council of the Frelimo youth affiliate, the OJM (Mozambican Youth Organisation), Nyusi said "we, as the government, continue to leave the reflection up to all of society'.
The OJM was part of society and was not forbidden from reflecting on the elections. The final decision would be taken by parliament. "We don't want to influence any opinion', claimed Nyusi.
But the OJM has already made up its mind. "We don't want the district elections to be held', said the OJM general secretary, Silva Livone, "because the country does not have the financial or structural conditions to hold them'.
