Africa-Press – Mozambique. The “Mais Integridade” consortium, which encompasses seven Mozambican civil society organisations, said on Sunday that it witnessed “abusive, chilling and shameful episodes in Wednesday’s local elections that discredit” the results announced by the electoral authorities.
“In a year in which Mozambique is marking 33 years of democratisation, the electoral management authorities, political parties and other stakeholders have once again shown their lack of ethics, transparency and democratic maturity,” the consortium said in a statement, stressing that it had observers of the electoral process in all 65 municipalities that went to the polls on 11 October.
“As an observer of the process, it closely followed the vote and witnessed, through its correspondents and observers present in all 65 municipalities in the country, abusive, chilling and shameful episodes that discredit and call into question the results that have been published by the electoral authorities,” says the consortium, which has called a press conference on these complaints for Monday.
“Undeniably, the police have once again shown their aggressiveness and partisan bias, violating the most basic constitutional rights and treating human life lightly. The gross irregularities perpetrated by various actors did not need the complicity of the darkness of night, but were carried out consciously, deliberately and complicity in broad daylight, showing the generalised breakdown of social values such as respect for others, integrity and justice,” the statement added.
“In view of the findings on the ground”, the group of organizations is giving a press conference since 9h30m this Monday, October 16,, in Maputo city.
In recent days, the district and provincial election commissions released the results of the intermediate tabulation of the vote in 46 municipalities, with the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the country’s ruling party) winning in 45 – most of which were strongly contested by opposition parties and civil society observers – and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM, the second opposition party) retaining Beira, Sofala province.
Frelimo was announced the winner in Maputo, the capital, in Matola, the country’s most populous city, but also in Nampula, the ‘capital’ of the north, and in Quelimane, the capital of Zambezia province, both of which until now had been led by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the largest opposition party).
In the 2018 municipal elections, Frelimo won in 44 of the 53 municipalities – 12 more municipalities were created in these elections – and the opposition won in only nine, in the case of Renamo, in eight, and the MDM in Beira.
The “Mais Integridade” Electoral Consortium was set up in 2022 with the aim of “contributing to the transparency and integrity of the 2023-2024 electoral cycle, assessing its course objectively and impartially”. It is made up of the Episcopal Commission for Justice and Peace (CEJP), the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), the Women’s Associations of Zambezia (Nafeza), the Solidarity Mozambique Association (SoldMoz), the Civil Society Learning and Training Centre (Cesc), MISA Mozambique and the Forum of Mozambican Associations of People with Disabilities (Famod).
The platform held another press conference on the day of the vote (Ocober 11).
On Saturday, the Mozambican Bar Association expressed “deep concern” at the “high level of violence” following Wednesday’s local elections, which “reveals a discredit in the institutions that administer the electoral process”.
“The levels of violence, as well as being able to discredit any electoral result, can also generate suspicion regarding the integrity of the electoral act itself as a whole and of the institutions that administer it,” says a statement from the Order, signed by its president, Carlos Martins.
Renamo has been denouncing alleged electoral fraud, accusing the police of being instrumentalised by the ruling party.
“We hold Mr Bernardino Rafael [commander of the Mozambican police] and the ruling party responsible for all the consequences that arise from the fury of Mozambicans who are protesting against this lynching and murder of democracy,” said Renamo president Ossufo Momade.
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