Mozambique to allow parties more provincial power, in bid for peace
Maputo -— Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi announced plans to change the constitution and give political parties more power in the provinces, in a move seen as key to reaching a permanent peace deal with the country’s biggest opposition group. Under the new laws, parties that win provincial parliamentary elections will be able to select a regional governor, who the president will then need to approve, Nyusi said on Wednesday in a television speech. The government will also introduce the position of provincial state secretary, who will represent the state in matters including tax and security. The armed wing of the opposition party, the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), fought the government in a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992 and claimed as many as one-million lives. Fighting flared gain in 2013, and Nyusi and Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama are set to sign a permanent peace deal. Although the two had planned to sign an accord by the end of last year, Nyusi didn’t commen...
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