Assembly Elects Its Commissions

Maputo — The Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, on Friday elected the former Minister of State Administration, Lucas Chomera, proposed by the parliamentary group of the majority Frelimo Party, as its First Deputy Chairperson.

The Second Deputy Chairperson is Viana Magalhaes, proposed by the former rebel movement Renamo. Magalhaes held the same post for the greater part of the 2005-2009 legislature.

The Assembly also elected the other 12 members of its governing board, the Standing Commission. "Election" is a something of a misnomer, since in reality places on the Standing Commission, and on all the Assembly's working commissions, are allotted in proportion to the number of seats each party holds.

The October general election saw Frelimo win around 75 per cent of the vote. The number of Frelimo seats has thus risen from 160 in the last parliament to 191 now, while the Renamo presence has fallen from 90 to 51 seats.

A third party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), won eight seats - but this is not enough to allow the MDM to form an officially recognised parliamentary group. The Assembly's standing orders state that a parliamentary group must have at least 11 members. Without a parliamentary group, the MDM cannot appoint members to any of the parliamentary commissions.

The composition of the new Standing Commission is as follows:

Frelimo

Veronica Macamo - Chairperson (speaker) Lucas Chomera - First Deputy Chairperson Margarida Talapa - head of the Frelimo Parliamentary Group Tobias Dai - deputy head of the Frelimo Parliamentary Group Manuel Tome - former head of the Frelimo Parliamentary Group Edson Macuacua - Frelimo Central Committee Secretary for Mobilisation and Propaganda Paulina Mateus Bonifacio Gruveta Jose Mateus Katupha Joaquim Verissimo Cidalia Chauque Jose Chichava

Renamo

Viana Magalhaes - Second Deputy Chairperson Angelina Enoque - head of the Renamo parliamentary group Gania Mussagy

The assembly elected the members of its eight working commissions, two of which are chaired by Renamo deputies. As in previous parliaments, where the chairperson is from Frelimo, the commission rapporteur is from Renamo, and vice versa. Like the Standing Commission, all the working commissions have 15 members, 12 from Frelimo and three from Renamo.

To chair the crucial Plan and Budget commission, Frelimo has chosen one of its top economists, former Finance Minister (and former mayor of Maputo), Eneas Comiche. He replaces Virginia Videira, who held the post for the previous 15 years, but failed to secure election to the Frelimo parliamentary slate for the 2009 electon.

The chairpersons and rapporteurs of the eight commissions are as follows:

1. Commission on Constitutional Affairs, Human Rights and Legality

Chairperson - Teodoro Waty (Frelimo) Rapporteur - Francisco Machambisse (Renamo)

2. Plan and Budget Commission

Chairperson - Eneas Comiche (Frelimo) Rapporteur - Jose Samo Gudo (Renamo)

3. Commission on Social, Gender and Environmental Affairs

Chairperson - Telmina Pereira (Frelimo) Rapporteur - Leopoldo Ernesto (Renamo)

4. Commission on Public Administration, Local Power and the Mass Media

Chairperson - Alfredo Gamito (Frelimo) Rapporteur - Anselmo Victor (Renamo)

5. Commission on Agriculture, Rural Development, Economic Activities and Services

Chairperson - Francisco Mucanheia (Frelimo)\ Rapporteur - Luis Gouveia (Renamo)

6. Defence and Public Order Commission

Chairperson - Maria Anastacia da Costa Xavier (Renamo) Rapporteur - Francisco Tomas (Frelimo)

7. International Affairs Commission

Chairperson - Maria Ines Martins (Renamo) Rapporteur - Carlos Siliya (Frelimo)

8. Petitions Commission

Chairperson - Mario Sevene (Frelimo) Rapporteur - Jose Manteigas (Renamo)

The composition of all the commissions was approved unanimously and by acclamation. However, MDM deputy Lutero Simango served notice that the MDM will submit a resolution to change the standing orders so that the MDM will be able to form a parliamentary group.

"The Assembly needs to be more participatory and inclusive", he urged. "We hope that the right decision is taken and that good sense reigns so that we can form our parliamentary group".

Neither Frelimo nor Renamo have yet taken a public position towards this MDM request.

Renamo has announced that Angelina Enoque will head its parliamentary group, but the Renamo group has not yet chosen any other officers.

Fonte:Allafrica (2010.01.22)