President Filipe Nyusi has not yet promulgated the amendments to the electoral legislation that were passed by parliament a month ago, on 30 April. Thus the CNE is insisting on the dates in the old law for submission of candidates, creating serious confusion. CNE sources say they are unaware of the reasons

But parliamentary sources say that the laws cannot be signed until the changes are agreed with the Constitutional Council (CC), which is like walking on eggshells, and also gets caught in the angry dispute between the CC and the Supreme Court (TS).

First the organic law on the CC needs to be revised to allow it to talk to the district courts, which are under the TS, in matters of election disputes. Second the law has to be changed to allow the CC to hire, on a seasonal basis, skilled staff, for a period of no more than six months and which cannot be renewed, by public tender, to support and assist the Constitutional Council during the elections. This is intended to meet the high procedural demand during election periods, from the voter registration to the validation and proclamation of the results.

The amendment to the organic law on the Constitutional Council was approved a week ago, but it has not yet been promulgated.