Maputo — Mozambique's Constitutional Council, the country's highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, has ruled in favour of the main opposition party, Renamo, in a dispute over the use of Renamo symbols, according to a report in the latest issue of the bulletin on the impending municipal elections by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP).
Renamo had protested to the National Elections Commission (CNE) at the use of pictures of the Renamo founding commander, Andre Matsangaissa, and his successor, Afonso Dhlakama, on the symbol of a new party, Democratic Revolution (RD), which was formed by dissidents from Renamo.
In its complaint to the CNE, Renamo wanted the RD banned from the municipal elections on the grounds that it was using Renamo symbols. But the CNE threw this appeal out, because the Frelimo supporters on the CNE agreed with the RD that there was no similarity betwen the symbols used by the two parties.
The CNE noted that the Renamo symbol consists of a partridge, ten yellow stars and three arrows, displayed horizontally from left to right; while the RD symbol is a blue square against a white background with a picture of Matsangaiça, in the lower left corner, and one of Dhlakama, in the upper right corner.
The decision was put to a vote, and the Frelimo majority on the CNE voted against the Renamo complaint. Renamo did not accept this, and so it lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Council.
The Council rejected the argument that there is no design similarity between the symbols of the two parties. It believed that the question of the similarity or identity of symbols and acronyms "cannot be reduced only to the visual or graphic element'.
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Instead, the substantive identity of the symbols should be analysed, taking into account their impact on the electorate, which should make a free and conscious choice, without confusion, when voting for candidates.
The Consitutional Council warned that the use of Renamo historical figures by the RD "may cause confusion among the electorate at the moment when they are expressing their wishes'. That is, it might easily lead voters "to vote by mistake for the candidates of the RD, when in fact they wanted to vote for Renamo'.
The ruling says that the freedom given to political parties to choose their names, acronyms and symbols cannot be regarded as absolute or unlimited. For it runs up against limits in the electoral legislation under which electoral symbols may not coincide or be confused with those of other parties, coalitions, or independent groups of citizens.
The Constitutional Council gave the RD ten days to change its symbol and submit a new one.
