INTRODUCTION
This post discusses the assembly of the republic of Mozambique from early history, political history, and present assembly of Mozambique.
EARLY HISTORY
The history of Mozambique in the twentieth century is defined by long periods of war. The war against the ruling colonialists for independence was followed by a civil war after independence. Peace was only achieved in 1992, and since then the country has been the darling of the donor community. Its economic growth has been used as an example to the continent, with an annual growth rate of 8 %, and with low levels of inflation. Nevertheless, Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 70% of the population living below the poverty line. Life expectancy is approximately 40 years old; illiteracy is extremely high3, most of the population is not able to read or write, and many have no understanding of the official language, Portuguese.
POLITICAL HISTORY
Mozambique’s former status as a colony of Portugal – which was itself ruled by an authoritarian regime at the time – meant that Mozambicans, including colonial Portuguese citizens, had not prior to independence experienced government and a political environment that included representative and legislative organizations. This characteristic distinguishes the legislature in Mozambique from other former European colonies in Africa.
1977 marked the first time in Mozambique’s history that a political assembly came together. The meeting took place in the old cinema in Maputo, since there was no infrastructure for this purpose in the country at the time. This old colonial-era cinema, in the centre of the city, was adopted as the Assembly building from that date onwards. During the one-party regime, the parliament was known as the Popular Assembly (Assembleia Popular). Since 1994, with the introduction of the multiparty system, it has been called the Assembly of the Republic.
Read: POLITICAL HISTORY OF MOZAMBIQUE
Mozambican Assembly is only 31 years old. Seventeen of these were spent under a one-party regime and only 14 under a multiparty regime. Of the 17 years of one-party rule, a 12-year civil war dominated the years of one-party rule. After only 13 years in existence in a democratic dispensation, it is reasonable to state that the multiparty Assembly of Mozambique is still in its infancy. When assessing the performance or the role of the Mozambican Assembly, it is important to bear in mind (as with any other institution) its age and origin. These will influence the Assembly’s institutionalization process and the level of institutionalization achieved.
PRESENT ASSEMBLY OF THE MOZAMBIQUE
The Assembly of the Republic is the unicameral legislative body of the Republic of Mozambique established in 1977.
At present, the Assembly comprises two political party groups, which are the two parties that fought each other in the civil war. These two antagonistic parties have been seated side by side in the elected Assembly of the Republic since 1994. The country has already witnessed three legislative elections, in which FRELIMO has always achieved the majority of votes. In the first term, there was a third party involved, but from the second term onwards, the Assembly has consisted of two parties only. The RENAMO parliamentary group is at present a coalition between RENAMO and several small parties1. This coalition, however, did not prevent RENAMO from being the smallest parliamentary group in Mozambique’s multiparty history.
The current parliament has 250 members who are directly elected through a system of party-list proportional representation and serve five-year terms. Parties must receive at least five percent of the vote nationally to gain parliamentary representation. Parliamentary debates and business are conducted entirely in Portuguese. Three parties are represented in the parliament: FRELIMO, RENAMO and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique. After the 2014 election, RENAMO MPs have refused to take office, since the party considered the electoral act had been fraudulent, but they resumed their duties in February 2015.
POLITICAL PARTIES
FRELIMO and RENAMO’s co-existence within the Mozambican Assembly has been marked by apprehension and animosity. In December 1994, during the first session after the first multiparty elections, which took place in a tense environment, the main opposition party, RENAMO abandoned the plenary session as a result of a disagreement over procedures for the election of the speaker. Without procedural rules for the Assembly and without any experience whatsoever of how to conduct multiparty assemblies, the very first session ended in a serious crisis with the interruption of the Assembly Before 1994, FRELIMO deputies were chosen from among the ‘comrades’2 , among whom there were high levels of trust. They were also used to ruling their own assembly. On the other hand, subsequent to 1994, RENAMO deputies participated in a political assembly for the first time. As stated by one of the MPs at the time: “To FRELIMO, we RENAMO deputies were just a bunch of bandits, the new arrivals in town”. Unlike RENAMO, FRELIMO had experience of an assembly albeit under a one-party regime. None of the deputies had experience of being seated next to members of another political party. Apart from becoming familiar with all of the practicalities of an assembly, such as how to vote, how to take the floor and how to organize the agenda, the Mozambican deputies had to first learn how to be with the enemy after a civil war. The first challenge for the deputies was to move from being enemies to being political adversaries. Whether this has been achieved is still debatable.
THE ASSEMBLY AND DEMOCRATIZATION
The transition to democracy in Mozambique occurred alongside the establishment of peace in the country. During both processes the Assembly was a key institution. Not much is known regarding the role of African parliaments in their democratization processes. What is acknowledged is that many one-party assemblies have given way to assemblies comprising several political parties. There is the common conjecture that assemblies are important for democracy, although how these institutions have developed and what their importance is for the development and democratization of these countries needs further investigation. It is evident that the democratization wave of the 1990s replaced one-party assemblies with elected multiparty assemblies in several countries. The Mozambican Assembly is one of these.