The President of the Republic is the Head of State, embodying national unity, representing the nation on a national and an international scale, and overseeing the correct functioning of the State offices.
The Head of State shall be the guarantor of the Constitution.
The Head of State shall be the Head of Government.
The President of the Republic shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence and Security Forces.
Article 147. Eligibility
The President of the Republic shall be elected through direct, universal, equal and periodic suffrage and by personal and secret ballot.
All Mozambican citizens may be candidates for the office of President of the Republic, provided that they meet all of the following conditions:
that they possess nationality by origin and do not possess any other nationality;
that they are at least thirty-five years of age;
that they are in full possession of their civil and political rights;
that they have been proposed by at least ten thousand voters.
The term of the office of the President of the Republic shall be five years.
The President of the Republic may be re-elected only once.
A President of the Republic who has been elected on two consecutive occasions may be a candidate for further presidential elections only five years after the end of his last term of office.
Article 148. Election
The candidate who gains more than half of the votes cast shall be elected President of the Republic.
If none of the candidates obtains an absolute majority, there shall be a second round between the two candidates receiving the most votes.
Article 149. Incompatibility
The President of the Republic may not, except where the Constitution expressly provides otherwise, perform any other public function, and in no event may he perform any private functions.
Article 150. Investiture and Swearing Into Office
The President of the Republic shall be sworn into office by the President of the Constitutional Council in a public ceremony before the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic and other representatives of the sovereign public offices.
On assuming office, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath:I do swear on my honour that I will respect and ensure respect for the Constitution, that I will faithfully carry out the task of President of the Republic of Mozambique, that I will dedicate all my efforts to the defence, promotion and consolidation of national unity, to human rights, to democracy and to the well-being of the Mozambican people, and I will ensure that justice is done for all citizens.
Article 151. Disability or Absence
In the event of short-term disability or absence of the President of the Republic from the country, he shall be substituted by the President of the Assembly of the Republic or, in his absence, by his substitute.
The simultaneous absence from the country of the Head of State and his constitutional substitute shall be prohibited.
The Assembly of the Republic, the Constitutional Council and the Government shall be notified immediately of any short-term disability or absence of the President of the Republic.
Article 152. Interim Substitute and Incompatibilities
The President of the Assembly of the Republic shall also assume the functions of the Head of State on an interim basis in the following circumstances:
in the event of death or permanent incapacitation, certified by a medical board;
in the event of resignation, notified to the Assembly of the Republic;
in the event of suspension or dismissal as a result of an indictment or conviction by the Supreme Court.
The circumstances referred to in the preceding paragraph shall result in the holding of presidential elections.
If the President of the Republic resigns from office, he may not run as a candidate for a new term of office for the next ten years.
While the President of the Assembly of the Republic is acting as interim President of the Republic, his functions as a deputy shall be suspended automatically.
Article 153. Criminal Responsibility
For crimes committed in the performance of his functions, the President of the Republic shall be tried before the Supreme Court.
For crimes committed outside the performance of his functions, the President of the Republic shall be tried before the ordinary courts, at the end of his term of office.
It shall be incumbent upon the Assembly of the Republic to request that the Attorney General of the Republic institute criminal proceedings against the President of the Republic, upon the recommendation of at least one third and carried by a majority of two thirds of the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic.
The President of the Republic shall be suspended from his duties as of the date on which definitive indictment or its equivalent has been passed, and his conviction shall result in his discharge from office.
The Supreme Court, sitting in plenary session, shall deliver its judgement within a maximum period of sixty days.
In the event of a conviction, the President of the Republic shall not be able to stand as a candidate for that office again, nor may he hold any position in a sovereign public office or a local authority.
Article 154. Preventive Detention
In no circumstances whatsoever shall the President of the Republic in office be subjected to preventive detention.
Article 155. Election in the Event of Vacancy of Office
The election of a new President of the Republic in the event of death, permanent incapacitation, resignation or discharge, shall take place within the following ninety days, and the interim President of the Republic shall be barred from standing as a candidate.
An election for the office of President of the Republic shall not be held if the vacancy occurs during the three hundred and sixty five days preceding the end of the term of office, in which case the interim President of the Republic shall hold office until the next general election.
Article 156. Incapacitation
The permanent incapacitation of the President of the Republic shall be certified by a medical board, as defined by the law.
The permanent incapacitation of the President of the Republic shall be declared by the Constitutional Council.
The Constitutional Council shall certify the death and the divestiture of office of the President of the Republic.
Article 157. Regime Governing the Interim Period
During the period in which the office of President of the Republic is vacant, the Constitution may not be altered.
The interim President of the Republic shall guarantee the functioning of the offices of the State and all other institutions, but shall not exercise the powers referred to in article 159 paragraphs (c), (e), (f), (g), (h) (i) and (j), article 160 paragraphs 1(b) and 1(c), article 161 paragraph 2(e) and article 162 (c).
Article 158. Form of Acts
Normative acts of the President of the Republic shall take the form of presidential decrees, and other decisions shall take the form of presidential orders, and they shall be published in the Boletim da República.
If you enjoy this article, please do not forget to check out our other articles:
In the performance of his functions, the Head of State shall have the power to:
address the nation through messages and communications;
inform the Assembly of the Republic every year on the general state of the Nation;
decide, in the terms of article 136, to call referenda on issues of major national interest;
call a general election;
dissolve the Assembly of the Republic in terms of article 188;
dismiss all other members of Government when its programme has been rejected by the Assembly of the Republic for the second time;
appoint the President of the Supreme Court, the President of the Constitutional Council, the President of the Administrative Court and the Vice President of the Supreme Court;
appoint, exonerate and dismiss the Attorney General of the Republic and the Deputy Attorney General of the Republic;
grant pardons and commute sentences;
confer, within the terms of the law, honorary titles, decorations and distinctions.
Article 160. In Matters of Government
In matters of Government activity, the President of the Republic shall have power to:
convene and preside at sessions of the Council of Ministers;
appoint, exonerate and dismiss the Prime Minister;
create ministries and ministerial commissions.
In addition, he shall have power to appoint, exonerate and dismiss:
the Ministers and Deputy-Ministers;
the Provincial Governors;
the Principals and Vice-Principals of State universities, on the recommendation of the respective management boards, in accordance with the law;
the Governor and Vice-Governor of the Bank of Mozambique;
the Secretaries of State.
Article 161. In Matters of Defence and Public Order
In matters of national defence and of public order, the President of the Republic shall have power to:
declare a state of war and its termination, a state of siege, or a state of emergency;
sign treaties;
decree general or partial mobilisation;
preside over the National Council of Defence and Security;
appoint, exonerate and dismiss the Chief and Deputy Chief of the General Staff, the General Commander and Deputy General Commander of the Police, the Wing Commanders of the Armed Forces of Mozambique, and other officers of the Defence and Security Forces in the terms established by law.
Article 162. In Matters of International Relations
In matters of international relations, the President of the Republic shall have power to:
guide foreign policy;
enter into international treaties;
appoint, exonerate and dismiss ambassadors and diplomatic envoys of the Republic of Mozambique;
receive the credentials of ambassadors and diplomatic envoys of other countries.
Article 163. Enactment and Veto
The President of the Republic shall have the power to enact laws and to order their publication in the Boletim da República.
Bills shall be enacted into law within thirty days after being received or after notification of the decision delivered by the Constitutional Council that none of the provisions of the bill are unconstitutional.
The President of the Republic may, by order with reasons adduced, veto a bill and return it to the Assembly of the Republic for re-examination.
Should the bill, on re-examination, be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Assembly of the Republic, the President of the Republic must enact it into law and order its publication.
CHAPTER III. COUNCIL OF STATE
Article 164. Definition and Composition
The Council of State is a political body to advise the President of the Republic.
The Council of State shall be presided over by the President of the Republic and it shall have the following composition:
the President of the Assembly of the Republic;
the Prime Minister;
the President of the Constitutional Council;
the Ombudsman;
the former Presidents of the Republic who were not dismissed from office;
the former Presidents of the Assembly of the Republic;
seven persons of recognised merit elected by the Assembly of the Republic, for the length of the legislative term, on the basis of parliamentary representation;
four persons of recognised merit appointed by the President of the Republic, for the term of his office;
the runner-up of the Presidential elections.
Article 165. Taking Office and Status
The members of the Council of State shall take up office before the President of the Republic.
The members of the Council of State shall continue to perform their functions while they remain in their respective offices.
The members of the Council of State shall enjoy such privileges, immunities and ceremonial treatment as the law may establish.
Article 166. Powers
The Council of State shall, in general, advise the President of the Republic on the performance of his functions whenever the President requests such advice, and it must, compulsorily, pronounce itself on:
the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic;
the declaration of a state of war, a state of siege or a state of emergency;
the holding of referenda, in the terms of article 159 (c)
the calling of a general election.
Article 167. Functioning
The opinions of the Council of State shall be issued at a meeting convened for this purpose and presided over by the President of the Republic, and may be made public when the action to which they refer is carried out.
Meetings of the Council of State shall not be public.
The Council of State shall establish its own bylaws.
Please check out our other thought-provoking articles if you did like this one:
