A Frelimo-dominated parliamentary committee established to overhaul the constitution has led to controversy, owing to a lack of clarity about what changes the ruling party intends to make. Deputies from Renamo boycotted a parliamentary session on May 17th that was to hear from the committee, to which the opposition party has refused to appoint the three members that it is entitled to. In addition to fearing that Frelimo hopes to change the constitution to allow the president, Armando Guebuza, to stand for another mandate, Renamo has objected to the size of the committee's budget, at MT20m (US$650,000), and proposed "study trips" in the region. To date the committee has met just twice.

The governing party has remained tight-lipped about what its exact intentions are as regards its preferred constitutional reform, beyond saying that the constitution needs to be "modernised". Another opposition party, the Movimento Democrático de Moçambique (MDM), has also stated that it is mystified about the aim of the proposed constitutional reforms. However, unlike Renamo, it did appoint the one member of the committee to which it is entitled and has stated that it intends to remain engaged with the process.

Frelimo has denied speculation that it hopes to change the current limit of two presidential terms. Whatever the truth of that claim, Frelimo's supermajority in parliament-which it won at the hotly disputed legislative election in October 2009-would allow it to pass constitutional changes alone, although the party has stated that it hopes to proceed by consensus. The Economist Intelligence Unit currently does not expect Frelimo to tinker with the constitution to let Mr Guebuza stand for re-election, as powerful factions within the party are reportedly strongly opposed to the idea. However, if the committee process indicates that opposition would be surmountable, Mr Guebuza and his loyalists might be tempted to try to push through a change to presidential term limits.