Maputo — The candidate for governor of Maputo province from Mozambique's main opposition party Renamo, Antonio Muchanga, has insisted that the only way of eliminating electoral fraud is to amend the electoral legislation to allow the recounting of votes.

Speaking on Saturday at a march in support of his candidature in the southern city of Matola, Muchanga said the law as amended by the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, would allow "electoral justice' precisely because it gives district and city law courts the power to order recounts.

But President Filipe Nyusi has vetoed the amended law, sending it back to parliament for reconsideration.

"The President returned the law because he wants to perpetuate fraud', accused Muchanga, cited by the independent daily "O Pais'.

"But he's failed in his arguments', he claimed. "He's violated the Constitution. So we are going to force him to approve the amended version, just as it stands, to ensure that nobody can steal the votes that the people deposit, and give them to any party'.

Muchanga seemed to believe that the parliamentart group of the ruling Frelimo Party will not support Nyusi, and will join Renamo in voting for the amended legislation. If the Assembly votes for a second time in favour of the amendments, Nyusi will have no choice but to promulgate the amended legislation.

The main question is the power of the courts to order recounts, or to declare elections null and void. Last year, during the municipal elections several district courts ordered recounts - but in every case the Constitutional Council, the country's highest body in matters of electoral law, overruled them.

The Council claims it is the only body with the authority to order recounts, a claim which is strongly contested, not only by Renamo, but also by the Supreme Court and by the Mozambican Bar Association. Nyusi has come down on the side of the Council. Last week he re-appointed Lucia Ribeiro as Chairperson of the Council.