/ 25 March 1999

MOZ ELECTIONS MAY BE DELAYED

MOZAMBIQUE’s second multiparty general elections, due in October, may be postponed to early 2000 because preparations are behind schedule, a government official said on Thursday. “The elections will have to be postponed unless the National Elections Commission (CNE) manages to squeeze the entire electoral timetable,” said minister of state administration, Afredo Gamito. The CNE should have begun work on March 5 but Parliament has not yet appointed its 15 members to the elections commission, while the government has also still to appoint its two representatives on the commission. The government has, however, complied with its obligations of providing funds for the elections and preparation of tenders for the supply of electoral process materials, the minister said. Opposition parties are against a postponement.