particularly regarding the Internet, many gaps in information still need to be addressed, as the country develops its own governance structures. cxxix. In this respect, the capabilities of the National Statistics Institute (INE) should be enhanced. Despite its up-to-date and comprehensive legal mandate, the INE still needs to strengthen its administrative and technical capacity for managing the country’s basic statistics. Public information is still sporadic and is restricted to what is derived from the census conducted in principle every ten years. The compiled information is based on the National Statistics Yearbook (produced in July, with a summary appearing in February/March) and the price index. cxxx. Economically speaking, the lack of quality, reliable and up-to-date data makes proper forecasting and projections difficult. This tends to create difficulties for policy making and programming, not only for government officials, but also for commercial enterprises. The country has yet to apply all of the standards stipulated by the General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). cxxxi. In social development, the CRM noted the paucity of data on poverty and various social indicators, most of which are only available up to 2003. As is the case in the economic and commercial realm, the lack of recent data tends to complicate policy making and programming. 4.8 Political Inclusivity cxxxii. The need for political inclusivity in a post-conflict society is critical for reconciliation and reconstruction. In Mozambique, a disturbing trend is emerging in the pattern of plural politics. While there are many indications that the country is moving towards a fully fledged democracy, there is some concern about its political evolution. Particularly worrying is that Mozambique is sliding into a oneparty state. Many stakeholders fear that the ruling FRELIMO party appears to dominate the public sphere, blurring the distinction between state and party. cxxxiii. The 1998 elections saw a boycott by RENAMO and widespread abstentions. RENAMO, a significant political force with strong regional bases, heads a coalition with a large number of seats in Parliament. Despite this fact, the Mozambican state bureaucracy is still deeply entangled with the FRELIMO party organisation. Many Mozambicans feel strongly that the ruling FRELIMO party has been pursuing a more aggressive self-assertion policy requiring loyalty to the party in exchange for positions in the state apparatus, and increasingly committing itself to the political aim of reducing opposition parties to insignificance. These fears should not be taken lightly, particularly since recent highly influential older politicians, veterans of the war for colonial liberation, publicly expressed their contempt of democracy and opposition parties. 27