Moslems Call for Election Postponement

Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo) NEWS12 July 2007 Posted to the web 12 July 2007 Maputo
The Islamic Council of Mozambique is asking the government to change the date of the country's first elections for provincial assemblies, on the grounds that it is likely to clash with a major Islamic holiday.
The date announced by President Armando Guebuza for the elections is 20 December. But that date is also the most likely date of Eid al-Adha, one of the most sacred days of the year for Moslems.
Eid al-Adha {the day of the sacrifice} is supposed to commemorate the biblical and koranic myth of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to god. It falls at the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, and the three day Eid festival starts on the tenth day of the month of Dhul Hijja in the Islamic calendar.
Since the Islamic calendar is lunar, and depends on visual sightings of the crescent moon, there is always some uncertainty about exact dates. But it is more than likely that the next Eid al-Adha will fall on 20 December in the Gregorian calendar.
This is a real problem, since Moslems account for about 18 per cent of the Mozambican population, according to the 1997 census. Observant Moslems will prioritise their religious duties rather than voting, and so holding elections on 20 December risks an unnecessary increase in abstention.
Maputo Moslems interviewed by the private television station STV were unanimous in stating that on Eid al-Adha their religion would take precedence over their politics. They would celebrate Eid in the morning and then, if they had the time, they might vote later in the day.
Sheik Abdul Carimo Sau, of the Islamic Council, urged the government to change the date of the elections, but did not suggest an alternative.
Khalid Sidate, the leader of a minor opposition party, ALIMO {Independent Alliance of Mozambique}, proposed that the elections be moved to 22 or 23 December. But holding the election so close to Xmas, when many people are travelling to spend the festive season with relatives, does not seem viable either.
Holding the elections earlier than 20 December seems out of the question. The timetable is already extremely tight, with only a month between the end of voter registration {on 18 October} and the start of the election campaign.
The moslem concern offers the government an opportunity to postpone the elections to 2008 {when they could coincide with municipal elections}. This would require a constitutional amendment, which could be passed by the Mozambican parliament at its next sitting in October.
Such an amendment would require a 75 per cent majority - but the religious issue means that both the ruling Frelimo Party and the opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition could support an amendment without losing any face.