The Government of the Republic of Mozambique is the Council of Ministers.
Article 201. Composition
The Council of Ministers shall consist of the President of the Republic, who shall preside, the Prime Minister and the Ministers.
Deputy Ministers and Secretaries of State may be summoned to take part in meetings of the Council of Ministers.
Article 202. Convocation and Chairmanship
In discharging its functions, the Council of Ministers shall do so in accordance with the decisions of the President of the Republic and of the Assembly of the Republic.
The Council of Ministers shall be convened and chaired by the Prime Minister, to whom this power is delegated by the President of the Republic.
Government policies shall be formulated by the Council of Ministers in sessions led by the President of the Republic.
CHAPTER II. POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Article 203. Functions
The Council of Ministers shall secure the administration of the country, shall guarantee its territorial integrity, shall safeguard public order and the security and stability of citizens, shall promote economic development, shall implement the State’s social agenda, shall develop and consolidate legality and shall carry out the country’s foreign policy.
The defence of public order shall be guaranteed by the appropriate entities operating under government control.
Article 204. Powers
In particular, the Council of Ministers shall have the power to:
guarantee the enjoyment by citizens of their rights and freedoms;
secure public order and social discipline;
draft bills to be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic;
pass decree-laws under the legislative authority of the Assembly of the Republic;
prepare the Economic and Social Plan and the State Budget and implement them after they have been approved by the Assembly of the Republic;
promote and regulate economic activity and the activity of social sectors;
prepare the signature of international treaties and sign, ratify, adhere to and terminate international agreements, in matters that are within their governmental jurisdiction;
direct labour and social security policy;
direct the State sectors, particularly education and health;
direct and promote housing policy.
The Council of Ministers shall also have power to:
guarantee the defence and consolidation of the public domain and property of the State;
direct and co-ordinate the activities of the ministries and other offices subordinate to the Council of Ministers;
evaluate the experiences of local executive offices and regulate their organisation and functioning, and supervise the offices of the local authorities within the terms of the law;
encourage and support entrepreneurial activity and the exercise of private initiative, and protect the interests of consumers and of the general public;
promote the development of co-operatives and support family sector production.
The Government shall have exclusive legislative initiative in respect of matters concerning its own organisation, composition and functioning.
Article 205. Powers of the Prime Minister
Without prejudice to other attributes conferred upon him by the President of the Republic and by law, the Prime Minister shall assist and advise the President of the Republic in the running of Government.
In particular, the Prime Minister shall have power to:
assist the President of the Republic in drawing up the Government Programme;
advise the President of the Republic on the creation of ministries and ministerial commissions, and on the appointment of members of the Government and other governmental heads;
draft the Government’s plan of work and present it to the President of the Republic;
ensure that members of the Government implement decisions taken by State offices;
chair the meetings of the Council of Ministers dealing with the implementation of defined policies and other decisions;
co-ordinate and control the activities of ministries and other governmental institutions;
supervise the technical and administrative operations of the Council of Ministers.
Article 206. Relationship with the Assembly of the Republic
In his relations with the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister shall have power to:
present to the Assembly of the Republic the Government’s programme, the draft Economic and Social Plan and the draft State Budget;
present Government implementation reports;
express the Government’s positions to the Assembly of the Republic.
In the exercise of these functions, the Prime Minister shall be assisted by members of the Council of Ministers, whom he shall have designated.
Article 207. Accountability of the Council of Ministers
The Council of Ministers shall be answerable to the President of the Republic and to the Assembly of the Republic on the implementation of domestic and foreign policy, and shall be accountable to them for its actions in the terms of the law.
Article 208. Political Accountability of Members of Government
The members of the Council of Ministers shall be accountable to the President of the Republic and to the Prime Minister for the enforcement of the decisions of the Council of Ministers within their areas of jurisdiction.
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The members of the Government shall be bound by the Government Programme and by the decisions of the Council of Ministers.
Article 210. Form of Acts
Normative acts of the Council of Ministers shall take the form of decree-laws and decrees.
The decree-laws and decrees referred to in the preceding paragraph shall indicate the law under the authority of which they were passed.
The President of the Republic shall sign and order the publication of decree- laws, and the Prime Minister shall sign and order the publication of other decrees of the Government.
All other Government acts shall take the form of resolutions.
Article 211. Immunities
No member of Government may be arrested or detained without the permission of the President of the Republic, unless apprehended in the act of committing a felonious crime that carries a sentence of long-term imprisonment.
In the event that criminal proceedings are brought against a member of Government, and the member has been definitively charged, the President of the Republic shall decide whether or not the member should be suspended for the purposes of the proceedings, and a decision to suspend shall be mandatory when the crime in question is of the type referred to in the preceding paragraph.
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