30 October 2009
Maputo — The Commonwealth Observer Group on Friday launched its interim statement on the Mozambican general elections held on Wednesday, praising the general conduct of the poll, but criticizing the National Elections Commission (CNE) for its lack of transparency.
Read out at a Maputo press conference by the mission's chairperson, the former President of Sierra Leone, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, the statement said "a number of benchmarks for democratic elections have been met, although some concerns remain".
It noted that most polling stations opened on time, and were well organised. "There were some reports of minor incidents and technical shortcomings, such as inaccurate or missing voter lists", said Kabbah, "but overall it was a well administered vote".
The presence of political party monitors at the polling stations, and the fact that they could obtain certified copies of the results sheets "helps provide transparency and accountability for this crucial aspect of the process and greater confidence in the outcome".
Nonetheless, the statement warned "there is a need to provide for increased transparency and a more level playing field in order to increase confidence and encourage full inclusive multi-party politics".
Kabbah noted in particular the September dispute over the rejections of many party lists for the parliamentary elections, "with claims and counter-claims being made between some opposition parties and the CNE".
The main problem referred to here is that the largest extra-parliamentary force, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), was only allowed to stand in four of the 13 constituencies. The CNE argued that in the other nine constituencies many of the MDM candidates had not submitted any documentation at all, and were no more than names on a bit of paper.
The MDM retorted that if the document files for their candidates did not exist, somebody must have stolen them within the CNE premises. The MDM is now trying to sue the CNE, and has submitted a formal complaint to the Attorney-General's Office.
"The CNE claimed it had adhered strictly to legal provisions, but affected parties claimed interference with their submissions", said Kabbah. "The nominations process would have enjoyed more confidence and credibility had greater transparency been provided".
The rejection of candidate lists limited the choice offered to voters. Kabbah said this was particularly the case in the election for the provincial assemblies, in which the ruling Frelimo Party was unopposed in more than 60 of the 141 district constituencies.
The statement also criticized the CNE for not publishing key information "in good time or at all". This included lists of candidates - the CNE only published the names of the parties standing, and not their candidates. The names were posted on the notice board outside the CNE offices, and nowhere else.
When an AIM reporter requested copies of the lists, he was told by a CNE member to copy them down off the board, and that the CNE had no obligation to publish them anywhere else. If the names reached a larger audience, that was entirely thanks to the media, particularly to the independent daily "O Pais", which made a point of publishing the parliamentary lists of the ruling Frelimo Party, and of the main opposition party, Renamo.
The statement noted that the CNE also failed to publish the polling station codes, and the number of voters registered at each station.
Kabbah admitted that the CNE faced tight legal deadlines, and the way the laws were drafted led to "a lack of adequate sequencing of key electoral elements, such as the completion of voter registration and the commencement of candidate nomination".
Vote tabulation is now underway at district level, and will then progress to provincial and national levels. The Commonwealth group hoped that "final results will be tabulated fully and transparently, with official results issued as soon as possible to maintain confidence". If the CNE had to make any corrections to the results sheets "due to decisions on invalid votes or because of adjudication on complaints", the group expected that such changes would be "fully transparent".
Asked about the threats made by Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama on Thursday that he might "take power by force", Kabbah said that such declarations were a matter for concern. Politicians who spoke like that should be told "that such statements lead to violence which is not good for the country".
Mark Stevens, an official from the Commonwealth Secretariat, said that many Commonwealth countries have transparent procedures, from which the Mozambican CNE could learn.
"The CNE might be acting entirely properly", he said, "but it needs to be transparent in order to show this to the people".
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This is an extremely biased article. In journalism what should be reported are the events, the journalist should refrain from expressing his/her own views or opinions. All articles coming from AIM are very anti renama and extremly pro frelimo. This is shameful. Allafrica should consider alternative source of news if it intends to be ubiased.
Not really surprising considering that the source of the report is coming from AIM
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