Reports of Irregularities Mark Election Day Without Incidents

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Reports of Irregularities Mark Election Day Without Incidents
Reports of Irregularities Mark Election Day Without Incidents

Africa-Press – Mozambique. Wednesday’s general elections in Mozambique are being marked by accusations of irregularities on the part of the opposition, with no significant incidents reported, and observers highlighting popular participation.

In the middle of the day, Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) gave a positive assessment of the opening of polling stations, despite confirming detentions, without giving a figure, and problems getting voting underway in Berlin.

“In general we have a positive assessment of the opening of the polling stations and that the process is running smoothly,” said the CNE spokesman, who reported that teams had been sent to the field due to reports of irregularities in the access of delegates to polling stations.

While presidential candidate Daniel Chapo, supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), called for the ‘festive’ atmosphere of the general election campaign to continue during the vote and for the electoral process to proceed ‘without violence’, throughout the day the opposition denounced electoral irregularities.

The Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) party, the country’s second largest political force, for example, this afternoon denounced the exclusion of polling station staff and asked the electoral administration bodies to repair the ‘irregularities’ identified in the vote.

In the morning, presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, after appealing for people to vote, said that a ‘fraudulent scheme’ had been set up at national level, describing a scenario of ‘electoral banditry’.

Earlier, the presidential candidate and leader of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), Lutero Simango, also claimed that members nominated by his party were being prevented from accessing polling stations, describing this as “fraud”.

The extra-parliamentary party Action of the United Movement for Integral Salvation (AMUSI) said it would contest the Mozambican general elections following alleged irregularities detected on the ballot papers and denounced ‘premeditated fraud’.

Aside from the parties and candidates, the Sala da Paz electoral observation platform, made up of Mozambican and international observers, considered that the low presence of political party candidate delegates could affect the transparency of the elections.

Meanwhile, in the early afternoon, the head of the European Union Election Observation Mission (MOE EU), which includes Portuguese MEPs Hélder Sousa Silva and Marta Temido, said that the opening of polling stations had taken place ‘without major incident’, in a ‘calm’ atmosphere, with Laura Ballarín also highlighting the ‘growing turnout’ to exercise the right to vote.

The President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, was the first to vote, and he took the opportunity to appeal for calm during the vote, without “disturbances”, recalling that the process is like a football match, where the winner is only declared at the end.

An appeal seconded by former heads of state Armando Guebuza and Joaquim Chissano. Guebuza also asked voters to return home after voting to avoid disturbances, while Chissano emphasised the public’s ‘serenity’ and ‘maturity’.

With the polling stations closed, where only those who were already in the queue before the official closing time ( 6pm local time, 5pm in Lisbon) voted, the results of the presidential election must now be published by the CNE, if there is no second round, which could take up to 15 days, before being validated by the Constitutional Council, which has no deadlines for proclaiming the official results after analysing any appeals.

The National Electoral Commission (CNE) registered more than 17 million voters for a ballot that included presidential, parliamentary and provincial governorships.

Running for president are Lutero Simango, supported by the MDM, Daniel Chapo, backed by Frelimo, Venâncio Mondlane, supported by Podemos, and Ossufo Momade, backed by Renamo.

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