Africa-Press – Mozambique. The opposition political forces in the Mozambican Parliament on Wednesday considered the entry of foreign forces without a parliamentary debate as a violation of the Constitution, but the ruling party does not see any illegalities.
“The Government has violated the Constitution by ignoring parliament, a sovereign body, about the presence of foreign troops in Mozambique,” said António Muchanga, a Renamo MP, the main opposition party.
According to António Muchanga, in the light of numbers 1 and 2 of article 178 of the Constitution, the analysis on the possibility of a foreign military intervention in Mozambique should be debated in the “house of the people”, and it is the exclusive competence of parliament to discuss the matter.
“The entry of foreign troops is a matter that strikes at the heart of sovereignty and is a basic question of the internal politics of a country. Do you think that the irrelevance of parliament in a matter that concerns the sovereignty of the state is correct?”, questioned António Muchanga, recalling that Renamo is not against the support of foreign forces in the fight against the armed insurgency in Cabo Delgado, but it is necessary that the laws are respected.
For the deputy of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), Fernando Bismarques, the Mozambican executive violated the law by not taking the issue to Parliament, stressing that some of the countries that are supporting Maputo have debated their involvement in the conflict in Cabo Delgado in their respective parliaments.
“This is the house of democracy and, in the same way that the foreign forces that are present have communicated to their parliaments, it was advisable that the Government brought this issue to debate here,” said the MP from the third parliamentary force in Mozambique.
According to the Frelimo ruling party, “the Constitution has clear provisions when it comes to the involvement of parliament in this type of decision. The involvement of parliament is only possible when it comes to declaring a state of war or siege. Therefore, as the country has not dealt with terrorist attacks on these dimensions, the debate is not at parliamentary level,” said Dias Julião Letela, Frelimo deputy.
Since July, an offensive by government troops with international support has increased security, recovering several areas where rebels were present, including the town of Mocímboa da Praia, which had been occupied since August 2020.
Armed groups have been terrorising Cabo Delgado province since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the extremist group Islamic State.
The conflict has led to more than 3,100 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and more than 824,000 displaced people, according to updates by the Mozambican authorities.
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