New seriousness
in parliament

Parliament's return to its renovated building has been matched by a more productive attitude by deputies (MPs). Renamo has ended the disruption that occurred earlier this year. But perhaps more important was the consensus decision of the two parliamentary party leaderships to change the standing orders.

These changes took effect in the current parliamentary session, and mean that the full parliament (Assembleia da República) only debates laws in general, while detailed revisions are done in commissions. Previously the full parliament did line by line debates, which led bored deputies to make disruptive comments. In this session, the speeches have been more serious. Both parties recognise the importance of this, acknowledging that parliament sessions are broadcast live by Radio Moçambique and are widely listened to outside Maputo.

Several significant pieces of legislation have now been approved in generality and are being worked on in commissions, including a law to protect HIV-infected workers, a major change to the government financial system, and changes to the penal code.

Work in commissions, outside the public eye, has always been more co-operative and constructive, and this has continued. Thus this session of parliament is proving less tense and more constructive - except for the fraught issue of the election law. But it has increased the work of the commissions, which are finding they do not have the trained and efficient back-up staff to keep up with the increased workload.

Another change is a new commission to receive petitions and complaints from the public, which increasingly sees the AR as an alternative means of redress against government mal-administration. A protest outside the AR on 28 November by ex-workers in the former East Germany was the third large demonstration outside parliament, and it handed in a petition to the petitions commission asking it to intercede with the government to help this group of workers. (The other demonstrations were a Renamo protest against the 1999 elections and a civil society demonstration to demand a law to protect HIV-infected workers - approved at this session).

Two other changes in the standing orders continue to provoke discussions. All bills presented to the full AR must have a report on the budgetary implications of the proposal. And the standing orders mean there is no parliamentary debate on the President's State of the Nation Speech. Previously the President stayed and responded to the debate.

First post-war congress
lets Renamo look forward

Renamo's first post-war Congress has left its president Afonso Dhlakama in tight personal control of the party. But the Congress also reflects a double transition - in the longer term it is finally shifting Renamo from a guerrilla movement to a political party, and in the shorter term Renamo is turning away from complaining about the 1999 elections and instead looking forward to 2003 local elections and 2004 national elections.

The Congress was held 28-29 October in Nampula with 640 delegates chosen at provincial meetings. Dhlakama was re-elected with only token opposition. But the delegates selected a 60-member national council in a very transparent way. Members were chosen by province; there were always more candidates than places; voting was done by secret ballot and the count was done in public, taking all night. Most importantly, the Congress delegates expressed their views about poor party organisation by not electing the two most recent secretary-general's of the party - José de Castro (Francisco Marcelino) and João Alexandre.

Dhlakama then took control, and the new National Council ratified Dhlakama's proposals for a ten-member, Maputo-based Political Committee. Most of its members, who include the two former secretary-generals, had not been elected to the National Council.

The Council also ratified Dhlakama's choice of Joaquim Vaz as secretary-general. Vaz is perhaps best known as the author of the diaries captured by the government at Gorongosa in 1985 which showed that South Africa was continuing to back and supply Renamo, despite promising not to when it signed the Nkomati Accord the previous year. In recent years Vaz has been living in Portugal.

Until now, Renamo has retained the very personalised, centralised and hierarchic structure inherited from the guerrilla war. The party was disorganised, the roles of officials were not clear, and even small decisions were taken by Dhlakama. Although the president retains his almost total personal power within the party, the Congress has put in place a structure which should lead to better organisation and more broadly based decision-making.

With the Political Committee, Dhlakama appears to be trying to create a trusted advisory panel which will reduce his isolation. It will meet weekly, with the party secretary-general and the head of the parliamentary bench also attending. David Aloni is not a member of the Political Committee, but remains personal advisor to Dhlakama and effectively number two in the party.

Meanwhile, the National Council will meet in February, probably in Beira, and launch a series of provincial conferences to try to restructure the party at local level and improve organisation at the base. At provincial and district level there will also be councils and political committees.

The Congress also agreed to establish a National Judicial Council, which will be elected by the National Council in February and will be charged with internal regulation and auditing of the party.

The appointment of Vaz as secretary-general has caused some comment, as he is little known even within Renamo and has had no recent contact with Mozambique. Renamo sources argue that it was necessary to bring in an outsider to end the infighting within Renamo - that the secretary-general could not have been chosen from one of the factions. They also argue that Vaz has been chosen as an administrator and organiser - a manager rather than a politician, and someone who will put his priority on party organisation.

But diplomatic sources suggest that a substantial part of the cost of the Congress was paid by Portuguese businesspeople and that Vaz also represents a link with them. Thus his appointment marks an increase in right-wing Portuguese influence in Renamo. The other funding for the Congress came from the Netherlands (see next page).

Renamo had always argued that it was delaying the Congress because of lack of money, and it went to great lengths to keep the costs of the Congress as low as possible. The meeting was held in a Nampula sports pavilion and food was simple.