Africa-Press – Mozambique. Bornito Sousa, head of the African Union’s (AU) Election Observation Mission to Mozambique for Wednesday’s presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, believes that the country’s multiparty democracy is gaining more credibility since this is the first time that general elections have taken place without armed political parties.
In all previous elections, the main opposition party, Renamo had an armed militia, inherited from its days as a rebel movement.
This is the first time that elections have taken place, after the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programme for the former Renamo guerrillas, agreed under the 2019 peace agreement signed by President Filipe Nyusi and Renamo leader Ossufo Momade. About 5,000 members of the Renamo militia were demobilized under the DDR, and the final 16 Renamo military bases were closed.
According to Sousa – speaking to reporters, on Tuesday, in Maputo, at a meeting that Foreign Minister, Verónica Macamo, had with observation missions – the non-existence of armed parties gives more confidence to the country’s democracy.
“We take positive note of the fact that these are the first elections in which there are no weapons in the hands of any party, and this is very good, it creates confidence on the part of the citizens of Mozambique and, like everyone else, we hope that the results naturally reflect the feelings of the Mozambican people and, above all, of the voters”, he said. [Bornito de Sousa Baltazar Diogo (born 23 July 1953) is an Angolan politician who was the vice president of Angola, from 2017 to 2022-].
For her part, Laura Ballarin Cereza, head of the European Union Election Observation Mission, said that the mission is committed to strengthening Mozambique’s democratic development.
“We have been observing the elections since 1994. We think this is a demonstration of the good relationship that we want to strengthen with Mozambique. We want to participate in the process of strengthening Mozambique’s democratic development. Our presence here contributes to the fulfilment of that mission”, she said.
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