Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mais Integridade (More Integrity) Electoral Consortium– a platform of seven Mozambican civil society organizations – is demanding greater transparency in the appointment of the three civil society personalities who will be part of the Technical Commission, running the “Political Commitment for an Inclusive National Dialogue”, a document signed between President Chapo and representatives of ten political parties on 5 March
The Commission is supposed to work on such matters as amendments to the Mozambican constitution, rewriting the electoral legislation, and decentralization.
According to “More Integrity”, which is headed by the anti-corruption NGO, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), there is secrecy surrounding the choice of civil society representatives on the Technical Commission, a situation that worries genuine civil society organizations.
“So far, not only has there been no public information about the three personalities from civil society who have been nominated to take part in the Commission’s work, but it is also unclear what criteria might be used to appoint them”, Mais Integridade chairperson Edson Cortez told reporters, on Thursday, in Maputo.
“We call for the establishment of clear or precise criteria for the choice of the three individuals from civil society”, he added.
According to Cortez, the criteria for selecting civil society members is unclear, both in the Law approving the Political Commitment and in the Regulations governing the Technical Commission.
“There is ambiguity in the mechanisms for selecting civil society figures. There is also a lack of clarity on how the Terms of Reference were created. The tenders for the selection of civil society figures were also unclear”, he said.
“The proposal to open a public tender should have been transparent, impartial and credible. The consortium proposes that the nomination or selection of the three individuals from civil society organizations be made by means of a public tender, under terms to be established by specific regulations to be approved by the 18 members of the Technical Commission, appointed by the President”, he said.
In order to bring more credibility, Mais Integridade calls on the President and the members of the Technical Commission to establish fair criteria for the appointment of the three civil society personalities.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
