VZCZCXRO2852
RR RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR
DE RUEHTO #0591/01 1421336
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221336Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5414
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000591 
 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MZ
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SCRAPS AD HOC 
COMMITTEE ON ELECTORAL REFORM 
 
MAPUTO 00000591  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Mozambique's National Assembly recently voted in 
favor of dissolving the ad-hoc committee on electoral 
legislation.  The move came after committee chair, Alfredo 
Gamito, reported that the group was unable to reach consensus 
on the composition of the National Election Council.  The 
issue of electoral reform will now be addressed by a standing 
committee in the National Assembly, also headed by Gamito, by 
party vote -- meaning FRELIMO will dictate the result.  This 
has raised concerns of some donors.  End Summary. 
 
Assembly Scraps Electoral Ad-Hoc Committee 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) On May 4 the FRELIMO majority in Mozambique's National 
Assembly, by a vote of 144 to 77,  moved to dissolve the 
ad-hoc committee established in March 2005 to revise the 
country's electoral legislation.  The decision was taken 
after the committee chair, Alfredo Gamito, declared that the 
group was at an impasse on the composition of the National 
Election Council (CNE) -- one of at least half a dozen 
aspects of the elections process under review by the 
committee.  Gamito stated that the committee had "achieved 
nothing" since it was established more than one year earlier 
due to the CNE deadlock and, against dissent by the 
opposition RENAMO, moved that the committee be abolished. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The abolishment of the ad-hoc committee moves 
responsibility for revising electoral legislation to a 
standing committee in the National Assembly that Gamito 
heads, the Committee on Agriculture, Regional Development, 
Public Administration and Local Power.  There FRELIMO 
deputies have ten seats and RENAMO only five (mirroring 
FRELIMO's nearly two-thirds hold on the National Assembly). 
Decision-making will be done by majority vote -- meaning 
FRELIMO will be able to entirely ignore RENAMO input, if it 
wishes.  Comment: This represents a significant setback for 
RENAMO.  In the ad-hoc committee, decisions could only be 
reached by consensus.  End comment. 
 
Finger Pointing 
--------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The stumbling block was disagreement between FRELIMO 
and RENAMO on the number of political party representatives 
to sit on the CNE.  RENAMO proposed a 17-member body, of 
which 16 would be appointed by the parliamentary parties on 
the basis of parity (8 for FRELIMO and 8 for RENAMO), with 
the final member coming from civil society.  FRELIMO took the 
other extreme, proposing a 15-member CNE comprised completely 
of civil society members.  (Comment: In the end, FRELIMO was 
reportedly unwilling to grant parity on CNE to RENAMO, which 
holds only 90 of the 250 seats in the Assembly.  RENAMO 
balked at the FRELIMO proposal, stating that civil society 
was "entirely under FRELIMO's thumb."  End Comment.) 
 
¶5. (SBU) Both FRELIMO and RENAMO continue to point fingers at 
one another.  FRELIMO has claimed that RENAMO delegates did 
not have the political will or confidence from their leader 
to take decisions, and only wanted to "waste time."  In a May 
18 conversation with Emboff, RENAMO committee member Joao 
Alexandre blamed FRELIMO for the stalemate, stating that 
FRELIMO brought "completely unacceptable" proposals to the 
table on purpose in order to cause the deadlock.  He asserted 
that the FRELIMO had demonstrated its "dictatorial character" 
by voting to abolish the ad-hoc committee, which in his view 
could have continued work on other important electoral reform 
issues despite the CNE stalemate. 
 
Election Donors Worried 
----------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The decision to disband the ad-hoc committee has 
raised concern within the donor community, which has had to 
foot most of the bill for the past three general elections. 
In 2004, the EU alone spent nearly USD 30 million on the 
December general election.  When Mozambique's Constitutional 
Council in January 2005 issued a series of recommended 
changes to the electoral law to address shortcomings in the 
2004 general election -- changes very similar to proposals 
made by EU observers, the Carter Center and others monitoring 
the election -- the donor community believed the GRM was 
 
MAPUTO 00000591  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
serious about reform.  Now, with changes no longer to be done 
by consensus, many are dismayed, worried that the GRM may opt 
to act only from narrow FRELIMO interests.  In a luncheon 
with the Ambassador on May 18, the British High Commissioner 
commented that donors would be far more reticent about future 
election support if FRELIMO deputies in the committee ignored 
last year's recommendations. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In a May 10 informal donor discussion hosted by 
USAID, some donor representatives opined that the stalemate 
may have been a stall tactic employed by both parties in 
order to force the postponement of the provincial elections 
scheduled for late 2007.  (Comment: It is commonly believed 
that Mozambique will have an extremely difficult time 
managing the three consecutive elections scheduled for 2007, 
2008 and 2009.  Folding the 2007 provincial elections into 
either the 2008 municipal or 2009 general elections would buy 
the GRM time for better preparation.  End Comment.) 
 
Comment: RENAMO Played into FRELIMO's Hand? 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) RENAMO's stubborn insistence on political party 
parity appears to have been a serious mis-step.  With 
electoral reform moving to a "majority rules" environment, it 
seems likely that the main opposition party's input will be 
far more muted than before.  The question now is to what 
extent FRELIMO will use its majority power to shape the 
electoral law to its advantage.  Perhaps RENAMO's strategy is 
to force the donor community to police FRELIMO.  In any 
event, looming ahead is a busy electoral cycle in which 
RENAMO clearly will be playing catch up. 
La Lime