Mozambique: MDM Occupies First Place On Ballot Paper

7 August 2024
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Maputo — The Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), the second largest opposition party in the country, is in first place on the ballot paper for the parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.

The draw for places on the ballot paper, held by the National Elections Commission (CNE), put the ruling Frelimo party in second position, and Renamo, the largest opposition party, in third position.

The three parties occupy the top three positions because they are the only forces standing candidates in all 11 provinces.

Regarding the airtime for each party in the public sector media, the Coordinator for Legal Matters at the CNE, Rodrigues Timba, said that, the draw for broadcasting time will be held weekly and will cover, in addition to the three parties with seats in parliament, the various extra-parliamentary political parties running in the elections.

For his part, the CNE spokesperson, Paulo Cuinica, speaking on the sidelines of the event, said that the CNE has no money to channel to the 37 political parties that are participating in the elections, although it had planned to make over 240 million meticais, (about 3.76 million dollars at the current exchange rate) available for the parties' election campaigns, including the four presidential candidates.

With the funds in question, the political parties would be able to buy materials to use during the official election campaign, which is scheduled to be launched on 24 August

"There is a shortfall in the budget set aside for the elections, but the CNE is working to solve the problem, Cuinica said. "That's what we're doing. We are working and we believe that the Ministry of Economy and Finance is also working to find the money so that it can fund the entire electoral process'.

The reason why 37 parties, most of them tiny, are competing is that they hope to leech money from the state, as in previous elections. Apart from Frelimo, Renamo, the MDM and New Democracy (ND) none of these parties are represented in any provincial or municipal assemblies, much less in the national parliament.

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