Africa-Press – Mozambique. Analyst Sergio Chichava joins the chorus of voices calling for the dissolution of Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE) after the municipal elections on October 11: “Even in places where Frelimo is popular, fraud has been reported.”
The Mozambique Bar Association issued (19.10) a press release this Thursday demanding the dissolution of the National Elections Commission (CNE), stating that its president and his team “do not have the conditions to remain in office” after the local authorities’ “imbroglio” on October 11th.
Appeals are filed in courts across the country by the opposition regarding electoral irregularities and illegal acts. On Thursday, a court ordered the recount of votes in Matola, and in several municipalities, including in Maputo city’s Kampfumo and Nlhamankulu districts, the elections were annulled.
For the Mozambican Bar Association, “the number of decisions annulling the results of voting tables and district tabulation, in several municipalities in the country, reveals, without a shadow of a doubt, a prior concertation to vitiate the electoral results”.
In an interview with DW Africa, Professor Sérgio Chichava highlights that the district courts have no choice but to rule in favour of the opposition’s appeals because “the evidence is irrefutable”. The Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) considers that it “has the legitimacy to govern the majority of the municipalities in the next five years”, but Sérgio Chichava has a different opinion.
DW Africa: The Mozambican Bar Association stated that “the president of the National Elections Commission and his entire team are unable to remain in office”. Do you agree with this position?
Sérgio Chichava (SC): I agree, and the whole of Mozambican society agrees. I don’t think you will find anyone with common sense who doesn’t share this opinion, because it is unanimous. I think that people of common sense, who want to see the country stable and at peace – people of integrity – share this opinion. Therefore, the Bar Association does nothing more than say, out loud, what anonymous citizens cannot say.
DW Africa: Frelimo proclaimed itself the winner in most municipalities. Does the party really have legitimacy in the face of so many allegations of irregularities that have been presented?
SC: I think that, even in places where Frelimo won, the doubt will persist: that Frelimo did not win due to popular support, but because it used some manoeuvres, or through fraud. Not through the popular vote, but through fraud.
The point is that, this time, the extent of the fraud was such that it was not possible to hide it. Even in places where Frelimo is popular and knows in advance that it will win the elections, such as in Gaza province, cases of fraud have been reported. In these cases where Frelimo wins handily, even in these places, cases attributed to Frelimo have been reported.
DW Africa: So far, some district courts have annulled the elections or ordered that the intermediate vote count be repeated. If this reaches the Constitutional Court, can we expect a repeat of the elections?
SC: It can be expected that there will be a repeat of the elections as there has already been in past elections, the case of Gurué, for example, in which the MDM did not agree with the verdict of the electoral bodies, filed an appeal and it was granted. The elections were annulled, repeated and the MDM won. It’s possible.
The political parties’ complaints, presented to the courts, have been accepted because the parties are presenting irrefutable evidence, and the courts have no alternative but to accept the parties’ complaints. This is irrefutable evidence, which tarnishes the process.
For More News And Analysis About Mozambique Follow Africa-Press
