Maputo — Mozambique's main political parties have called for the postponement of the start of voter registration ahead of this year's presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, since the date proposed by the National Elections Commission (CNE), 1 February, coincides with the peak of the rainy season.
Disquiet at the idea of calling on voters to queue up to register during the rains was expressed on Monday, in Maputo, during the meeting organized by the CNE to share with the political parties the calendar for the elections.
The parties justified their opposition to the February date by saying that the rains may affect access to registration posts particularly in remote regions of the country, where access roads become impassable.
"Our first dissatisfaction has to do with 1 February as the date for the start of voter registration', said the Renamo national election agent, Gloria Salvador. "With the climate changes that the country has been experiencing in recent years, it's not possible to start the registration on 1 February. That is a time when we have cyclones and a lot of rain'.
For her part, the MDM election agent, Sílvia Cheia, agreed that February is not advisable for voter registration due to the weather. She suggested that registration should start in mid-March or early April, as has been the case with earlier elections.
"The month of February is within the rainy season and given the situation in our country, which is susceptible to cyclones and heavy rains, there are no conditions for the registration to start on this date', Cheia said.
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The representative of the ruling Frelimo party, Maria Manjate, explained that the timetable was drawn up taking into account the legal framework that exists at the moment, but her political party was also concerned about the situation.
"Yes, we are also concerned. What we want is for the entire population to register, all those who are 18 years old or will celebrate their 18th birthday by the date of the election', she said.
She added that Frelimo is not opposed to changing the date set for the start of the census from February 1st to mid-March or early April, as long as it takes place within the provisions of the law.
The political parties are pushing on an open door, since it is already well known that the CNE is preparing to present alternative dates for the voter registration to the government, which must take the final decision.
The bulletin on the elections published by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) notes that it will be impossible to start voter registration on 1 February, not only because of the rains but because the Lexton-Artes Gráficas consortium of companies hired to produce and distribute the registration and voting material will not be able to place the equipment on the ground by 1 February.
One of the reasons is that the Government has not yet paid for past consignments of registration material, and is running up debts.
CIP believes that the CNE will propose postponing the start of registration to 15 March.
