Mozambique’s main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, on Thursday disrupted proceedings of the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, by demanding another emergency debate on the Mozal aluminium smelter – which would be the second in the space of a fortnight.Mozal is rebuilding its Fume Treatment Centres (FTCs), which deal with emissions from the carbon plant which makes the anodes used in the electrolytic furnaces that convert the raw material, alumina (aluminium oxide), into molten aluminium. The structure of the FTCs has become severely corroded by sulphuric acid, and the buildings are in danger of collapse. Rebuilding them will require the filters to be shut off for 137 days, according to the Mozal management. During this period of “filter by-pass”, emissions (essentially of hydrogen fluoride, dust and tars) will be sent directly into the atmosphere up a 62 metre tall chimney.Environmental groups have protested vigorously, but the studies ordered by both Mozal and the Environment Ministry show that, although there will certainly be an increase in emissions, these will not reach dangerous levels, and will be within the limits stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).After a delay of a fortnight, the Mozal FTCs switched to bypass mode on Wednesday. So on Thursday, Renamo deputies insisted that Mozal constituted “a prior issue” and must be debated once again, before anything on the parliamentary agenda could be considered. The last debate, on 3 November, was an opportunity for Environment Ministry Alcinda Abreu to explain the bypass, and why action must be taken to prevent any further deterioration in the FTCs. Because the ruling Frelimo Party holds 191 of the 250 parliamentary seats, most of the debate was occupied by Frelimo deputies supporting the government position. Renamo had time for just a couple of speeches declaiming impotently against Mozal and against the government.It is hard to see why Renamo wishes to repeat that experience. The mathematics of the Assembly’s composition mean that whenever the opposition demands an emergency debate most of the time is spent by Frelimo deputies defending government policy.One of Renamo’s arguments was that Mozal should not have initiated the bypass before the Assembly passed a resolution on the matter. On 3 November there was no resolution and no vote. The text of a resolution now exists, but, under the Assembly’s standing orders, it cannot be debated until the Assembly’s Legal Affairs Commission issues an opinion on it.The Assembly Chairperson, Veronica Macamo, urged the Commission to give its opinion this week – which would allow a debate next week. The chairperson of the Legal Affairs Commisison, Teodoro Wate, criticized the way Renamo was trying to steamroller the Assembly. “To say something is urgent doesn’t mean it has to be debated immediately”, he said.Before Macamo called for the Commission to take a position this week, it had promised to produce its written opinion early next week. Even that, Wate pointed out, required “an extraordinary agenda” for the Commission.His colleague Alfredo Gamito accused Renamo of riding roughshod over the standing orders, and thus creating incidents that hinder the normal operations of the Assembly. Renamo paid no attention, and with the backing of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), forced a vote on an immediate debate. Since there was no text of any resolution to be debated, Frelimo voted against and its huge majority ensured an easy victory.For Renamo, Saimone Macuiana justified an immediate debate on the grounds that “the lives of Mozambicans are at stake”, although he produced not the slightest evidence for this assertion.“Let us allow the Legal Affairs Commission to work on the proposal. The matter will be on the agenda for the plenary, when the conditions have been created”, declared Frelimo deputy Moreira Vasco.After losing this vote, the Renamo deputies put on gas masks, which they wore until the end of the day’s session.Renamo tactics succeeded in disrupting the Assembly’s agenda. After spending an hour and a quarter on debating whether to have a debate on Mozal, the Assembly only had time to ratify President Armando Guebuza’s appointment of Adelino Muchanga as the new Deputy President of the Supreme Court.Other matters on Thursday’s agenda – a bill on the customs regime for Mozambican miners working in South Africa, and a bill authorizing the government to revise the Highway Code – were postponed to next Tuesday.
0 comentários:
Post a Comment