Maputo, Mozambique — Critics in Maputo were Wednesday taken aback by the budgetary demands of a parliamentary ad-hoc committee set up to revise the country's electoral law.
They are taking exception to the fact that the committee wants to spend almost five times the budget allocated it by the National Assembly.
Presenting a report in Parliament Wednesday, the committee's chairperson Alfredo Gamito of the ruling Frelimo lamented that only 300 million meticais (about 16,400 US dollars) had been disbursed for the committee's work this year.
The committee had budgeted up to 1.47 billion meticais, and Gamito warned that unless the money was forthcoming, the committee would not be able keep to its deadline.
But MPs across the board took exception to what was judged to be an extravagant budget.
Luis Boavida of Renamo suggested that the ad-hoc committee could drop as much as 82.5 million meticais from its budget estimates just obtaining stationery from Assembly's central stocks like preceding committees, rather than seeking to buy its own.
Frelimo's Sergio Vieira attacked the very premise of the budget when he asked how the ad-hoc committee could possibly work 120 days full time in 2001.
Replying critics, Gamito insisted that the committee would indeed work for 120 days, as its members would shove aside all other commitments.
"We must give top priority to our mission, else we run the risk of not finishing within the time frame," he quipped.
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No votes were taken on the controversial budget, but at the end of the debate Assembly chairman Eduardo Mulembue insisted that Parliament's Standing Committee "must guarantee that the ad- hoc committee produces quality work in due time, hence the budget should be redrafted and other sources of funding urgently sought."
Discussions would be held with the Finance Ministry and with the foreign donors who have supported the Assembly in other programmes.
The ad-hoc committee plans to discuss the National Electoral Commission in May and June, before following up with the presidential, parliamentary and municipal electoral procedures in July, August and September.
The issue of voter registration is programmed for October and November.
As from February 2002 the draft legislation would be discussed with the government, current electoral bodies, political parties not represented in Parliament, and the civil society.
The deadline for depositing the proposed amendments at the Assembly is 31 March 2002.
