Maputo — Mozambican President Daniel Chapo on Friday declared that the calendar for the "inclusive political dialogue' will not affect the holding of the next municipal elections, scheduled for October 2028.
Speaking at the first session this year of the Technical Commission for the Inclusive Dialogue (COTE), Chapo said that one of the main priorities for the dialogue is the revision of the country's electoral legislation.
"It is very important to note that the National Inclusive Dialogue will take place within the deadlines established by law and consequently will not affect the electoral timetable', said the President.
He denied reports that the government is considering postponing the municipal elections. Chapo said "I want to leave this very important message - there will be no alteration in the election timetable. The deadlines established by law will be complied with'.
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He recommended that COTE pay maximum attention to the electoral legislation, so that this year amended legislation can be proposed to the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic for its approval.
The electoral laws, he insisted, "are the heart' so that the national dialogue can advance.
Debate on all the other matters covered by the dialogue (which include constitutional amendments and the tax legislation) should be concluded by the first quarter of 2027.
The National Inclusive Dialogue results from an undertaking signed between Chapo and nine political parties in March 2025, which was later enshrined in law.
Several of the parties that signed this document are tiny bodies, with no representation in parliament. The agreement was signed before the largest opposition party, the National Alliance for a Free and Autonomous Mozambique (Anamola), led by former presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, even existed.
Subsequently, Mondlane has asked for a seat for Anamola on COTE, so far without success. The anomalous result is that tiny parties, which most Mozambicans have never heard of, have seats on COTE, but the largest opposition grouping does not.
Amending the electoral legislation by the end of this year is a tall order. For there are several separate laws - one dealing with the composition of the electoral bodies, one with voter registration, and several dealing with the mechanics of electing the Assembly of the Republic, and the various provincial and municipal assemblies.
The existing laws result from a deal cooked up between the ruling Frelimo Party and the former rebel movement Renamo in 2013. These laws set up a National Elections Commission (CNE), and its executive body, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), which are large, unwieldy and deeply politicised.
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The CNE and STAE have representation in all provinces and districts. This results in an apparatus of literally thousands of election officials appointed on a basis, not of competence, but of political loyalty.
The current CNE and STAE in 2025 organised general elections that were widely regarded as fraudulent. The results, polling station by polling station, have never been published, making it impossible to judge the claims of victory made by Frelimo and by Venancio Mondlane.
To avoid any repetition, a complete overhaul of the electoral laws would be needed, and, despite Chapo's optimism, it must be doubted whether laws that meet general consensus can be drafted before the end of this year.
