Renamo condemns Nyusi’s refusal to promulgate amended election laws

Maputo, 7 Jun (AIM) – Mozambique’s largest opposition party, Renamo, has condemned President Filipe Nyusi’s refusal to promulgate the amendments to the electoral laws that the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, passed on 30 April.

Nyusi sent the package of amendments back to the Assembly on 30 May. Thus Nyusi had taken an entire month, supposedly to examine whether the set of short amendments was in line with the Mozambican Constitution.

According to a senior parliamentary deputy from the main opposition party, Renamo, António Muchanga, who was speaking to reporters, on Thursday, in Maputo, the amendments returned by the President clarify the powers of the Constitutional Council and of the district courts in electoral matters. These amendments were approved unanimously – thus the ruling Frelimo Party saw nothing wrong with them in April, and must have been surprised when Nyusi sent them back.

During last year’s municipal elections, several district courts saw that fraud had been committed, and either cancelled the elections in certain polling stations or ordered recounts. But in every case the Constitutional Council overruled the lower courts.

The Council usurped the power of district and city courts and ruled that only it had the power to annul elections or order recounts. Nyusi has now come down on the side of the Constitutional Council.

Muchanga said the application of laws is a power of the courts, whether or not there are doubts. “We don’t quite understand what the Head of State’s doubts are about the same laws, given that they were approved by consensus in parliament”, he added.

Renamo accuses Nyusi of vetoing the amendments to allow fraud in the general elections scheduled for 9 October.

“It seems to us that the intention, with this veto by the President, is for things to continue as they were in 2023 [during the municipal elections], to allow Frelimo to continue with the saga of fraud in the forthcoming presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections”, said Muchanga.

The Frelimo parliamentary group, instead of sticking to the position it took in April, now says it will “minutely examine” Nyusi’s arguments.

“We received the request to re-examine this law, so let’s work to assess the basis for the request”, said the spokesperson for the Frelimo group. Feliz Silva, cited by the independent television station, STV.

If Nyusi’s arguments were accepted, then the law would be re-examined – “otherwise we shall keep it as it is, and request its promulgation”.

If the Assembly insists, it can override Nyusi’s veto, and he will have no choice but to promulgate the amendments.

Time is running out, with the general elections due to be held in less than five months time. The parliamentary groups have a deadline of 30 days, counted from the date that Nyusi sent the amendments back, to assess whatever arguments he presented.

(AIM)

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