Maputo, Mozambique — Afonso Dhlakama, leader of Renamo Mozambique's main opposition party on Thursday night stormed out of a meeting with President Joaquim Chissano, thus breaking off the dialogue between the two men that began in December.

Mozambique news agency reported Friday that Dhlakama refused even to attend the joint press conference at the end of the meeting, delegating this task to one of his spokesmen, Gulamo Jafar.

Chissano told reporters that when, after five hours of discussion, Dhlakama left the room he handed the president a letter, "which shows that he was already prepared to break the dialogue".

The key disagreement was over the appointment of provincial governors, with Dhlakama insisting that Renamo nominate governors for the six provinces where Renamo won a majority of votes in the 1999 general elections.

Chissano said that Renamo was demanding a constitutional amendment that would allow the majority party in each province to appoint governors. He objected to this procedure on the grounds that the constitution must be looked at as a whole, and should not be altered piecemeal.

He said Dhlakama proposed that, if a constitutional amendment was not possible, Chissano should use his existing presidential powers to appoint governors suggested by Renamo.

Chissano insisted that changing the constitution was a prerogative of the country's parliament. Altering the way governors are appointed was not a minor change - the quasi-federal model proposed by Dhlakama clashed with the very first article of the current constitution, which establishes the unitary nature of the Mozambican state.

"The voters voted for a President of the Republic. They did not vote for governors. The voters have their rights. To make appointments based on the results in each province would be setting a precedent. This has to be well thought out. It should be discussed in the proper place - which is the Assembly of the Republic."