At stake in this election:    

• The 250 seats in Mozambique’s Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Armanda Emilion GUEBUZA (since 2 February 2005)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Alberto Clementino Antonio VAQUINA (since 8 October 2012)
• Assembly: Mozambique has a unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República) with 250 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote to serve a 5-year term.*
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República), 248 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 2 members are elected in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.**

*The electoral system is two-round.

** 248 seats are apportioned among 11 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the provinces in proportion to their populations. Two single-seat constituencies represent Mozambicans living abroad in Africa and "other countries," respectively. According to the electoral law (2007) these seats are "both based in Maputo."

Election Note:

On Wednesday 15 October 2014, Mozambique will hold elections for the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República).[i]

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Front for the Liberalization of Mozambique/Frente de Liberatacao de Mocambique) (FRELIMO)
  • Leader: Armando Emilio GUEBUZA
  • Seats won in the last election: 191
• Party: Mozambique National Resistance/Resistencia Nacional Mocambican (RENAMO)
  • Leader: Afonso DHLAKAMA
  • Seats won in the last election: 51
• Party: Democratic Movement of Mozambique (Movimento Democratico de Mocambique) (MDM)
  • Leader: Daviz SIMANGO
  • Seats won in the last election: 8

Last election:

• The last election to the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da República) in Mozambique was held on 28 October 2009.[ii] Turnout was 44.44 percent and 4,387,250 of 9,871,949 people casted ballots.[iii] The Front for the Liberalization of Mozambique (FRELIMO) won 191 seats or 74.7 percent of the vote, beating the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) party, who won 51 seats or 17.7 percent. Newcomer party, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), won 8 seats or 3.9 percent of the vote. Results can be found here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 24,692,144 (July 2014 est)[iv]
• Registered Voters: 10,000,000 (April 2014)[v]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 12,648,634 (July 2014 est)[i]
• Is Mozambique a signatory to CEDAW: No[ii]
• Has Mozambique ratified CEDAW: Yes (21 April 1997)[iii]
• Gender Quota:  No. However, the political party FRELIMO has a voluntary quota that requires 40% of candidates be women.[iv]
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 98 (39%) of 250 seats in the Assembly of the Republic[v]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 178[vi]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: 39^th out of 86 non-OECD countries (latest rankings are from 2012)[vii]