Maputo, Mozambique — The Mozambican parliament Thursday passed the first reading of a bill removing restrictions on the right to demonstrate.
The bill, proposed by the Renamo-Electoral Union opposition coalition, amends the 1991 law that regulates the freedom of assembly in the country.
The main change, accepted by the majority Frelimo Party, is to remove the limitation on the days on which street protests can be held.
The 1991 law stated that demonstrations could only be held on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and after 1730 hours on weekdays (not during working day or hours). This clause was controversial in the one party parliament of 1991, and today it had no supporters in the house.
Both Frelimo and Renamo also agreed that there was no question of the police, or anyone else, "authorising" protests.
Instead, the organisers of a demonstration would merely notify the police and the local authorities of their intention to hold a march four days in advance, supplying the time, route and purpose of the demonstration.
This was stated clearly in the 1991 law - but it seems that there were plenty of police officers and local administrators who did not bother to read the clause carefully.
Frelimo deputy Ali Dauto, who chairs the Assembly's Legal Affairs Commission, acknowledged: "In fact, most of the authorities have believed that people who wish to hold meetings or demonstrations in public places should request authorisation - but this is wrong, and contrary to the spirit of the law."
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Renamo is now pushing for further amendments to the law in the second reading - it wants to abolish the very concept of an illegal demonstration.
One article in the current law outlaws any meeting or demonstration whose stated purpose "is contrary to the constitution, the law, morality, public order and tranquillity or the rights of individuals and collective bodies".
Renamo argues that this is "subjective", and should be scrapped.
A further Renamo demand is that, even if demonstrations turn into riots, the police should under no circumstances use firearms against them.
This position is not entirely consensual within Renamo itseld. One Renamo deputy, Francisco Machambisse, admitted that the police might have to fire into the air in the event of serious trouble, which earned him applause from the Frelimo benches.
Repeatedly Frelimo deputies warned that Renamo was trying to "disarm" the police.
"You don't extend this ban on firearms to the protestors," Alfredo Gamito pointed out. "You want to turn the authorities into hostages of the demonstrators."
Teodato Hunguana stressed that "the interest in maintaining law and order should be the interest of all citizens, those who are on a demonstration and those who are not."
"Citizens have the right to demand security from the state, and the state has the duty to provide it, using the means that are legally attributed to it," he added.
Hunguana said that, under normal circumstances, the very presence of the police should be enough to dissuade violence. It was only in exceptional cases that the police would need to use force to enforce order.
