Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican parliament said yesterday that it would not interfere over the dissolution of the Guinea-Bissau parliament in 2023, but called for it to resume functioning “as soon as possible”, ahead of the AP-CPLP meeting in Maputo next week.
“At this time, I would like to express our solidarity with our colleagues and deputies from Guinea-Bissau due to the institutional crisis in that sister country. Our position is to non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states,” said deputy Feliz Sílvia, head of the national group of Mozambique’s Assembly of the Republic with the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).
At a press conference on Wednesday in Maputo to address the 14th Parliamentary Assembly of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (AP-CPLP), which will take place in Maputo, the Mozambican capital, next Monday and Tuesday ( July 14th and 15th), deputy Sílvia said that “it is desirable for Guinea-Bissau to restore parliamentary order as quickly as possible, which implies the resumption of its parliamentary operations”.
Guinean President Umaro Sissoco Embaló dissolved the country’s parliament in December 2023, before the 12-month constitutional deadline for the legislative elections won by the Inclusive Alliance Platform (PAI-Terra Ranka), led by the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC).
The president of the party leading the coalition, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Domingos Simões Pereira, was also removed from the presidency of the Assembly and the standing committee.
With the parliament dissolved, members of the National Group of the Parliament of Guinea-Bissau will represent that body at the 14th AP-CPLP, according to information provided at a press conference by Congressman Feliz Sílvia.
More than 100 delegates, including the presidents of the parliaments of the member states, have confirmed their attendance at the 14th AP-CPLP, the head of the National Group of the Assembly of the Republic with the CPLP announced, noting that the bodies will discuss the promotion of peace, democracy, and good governance in the CPLP over two days.
Mozambique will assume the rotating presidency of the AP-CPLP at the 14th meeting, which will take place at the Joaquim Chissano Conference Centre in Maputo, succeeding Equatorial Guinea, with a mandate focused on peace and inclusion.
As explained by Feliz Sílvia, also head of the parliamentary group of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), during its two-year term, Mozambique will focus on strengthening democracy and the rule of law and monitoring the implementation of the mobility agreement among member countries, including holding periodic meetings between members to ensure agreements that facilitate mobility within the CPLP.
Sílvia also said that Mozambique will focus on attracting private investment by harmonizing customs and tax rates among member countries and promoting the Portuguese language and culture of CPLP countries.
In July 2024, Mozambique hosted the annual meeting, the 13th ordinary session, of the AP-CPLP, chaired by Teresa Efua Asangono, President of the Senate of Equatorial Guinea. Equatorial Guinea had expressed difficulty in hosting the annual event.
Founded in 1996, the CPLP comprises nine countries: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and East Timor.
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