Mozambique: Government ratifies defence cooperation agreements
Map: DW
Heads of lists – who are also mayoral candidates – will not be named on the ballot paper. The ballot paper will only give the party name and symbol. This is different from Angola, for example, which gives both the party name and symbol and the name and photo of the head of the list.
But the draft electoral law does require that the list of parties posted at the polling station must contain the name of the person who heads the list (and could be elected mayor).
Changes in the electoral and municipalities laws required by the constitutional changes will be considered by parliament Thursday and Friday, 21-22 June.
Most of the changes relate to the end of the direct election of the mayor on a separate ballot paper and shifting to a system whereby the head of the list that received the most votes is automatically mayor. The law makes clear the it is the party with the most votes, and the number of assembly seats does not matter in naming the mayor. Pre-election coalitions are permitted, with one list and one head of list; post-election coalitions cannot be used to elect a mayor.
Mayor need not come from city
Two changes increase the power of parties at national level.
Candidates for mayor – the head of the list – and up to three candidates in total on a list, do not have to be registered in the city where they are standing for election, although they do have to be registered in a municipality. This will allow national parties to parachute in candidates for mayor.
One thing Renamo and Frelimo agreed on was that they did not like the way mayors were able to gain power bases and popularity independent of their party, which led to the agreement to end direct election of mayors. Not putting their name on the ballot paper again lowers their status and makes it harder for them to campaign as individuals, also increasing the power of national parties.
Curbs on fraud and intimidation
Two issues of fraud and intimidation raised by this Bulletin in past elections are dealt with in the draft electoral law.
One fraud committed by polling station staff is to invalidate ballot papers for the opposition by adding a second mark for another party, usually a finger print, making the vote invalid. This was serious enough in 2013 to give the Marromeu election fraudulently to Frelimo. Fingerprints should be easy to trace, as fingerprints are taken in the voter registration, but it was hard to follow up because all invalid votes for a district were thrown together before reconsideration.
The draft law changes this, and requires for the first time that the invalid votes be kept separated by polling station. This will make it possible to check for polling stations with suspiciously high invalid votes, and then possibly identify which staff member was responsible for invalidating the ballot papers.
The other issue is that Frelimo-aligned civil society observer groups have recently included senior government officials as observers and the opposition considered it intimidating to have people known to be senior Frelimo and government in the polling stations. The previous municipal law says observation would be governed by the national elections law, which already bars from being observers district, provincial and national directors, and district administrators and heads administrative posts. This is to be incorporated into the municipal elections law, and extended to say no member of provincial or municipal executive or assembly can be an observer.
Confusion over succession, tie
The constitutional changes did not establish who becomes mayor if the previous mayor (elected as head of the list with the most votes) dies, resigns or is removed. The draft law creates a confusion of offering two options. The first is that the replacement should be the person “best positioned” on the list – which is not defined, and the party chooses who it considers “best positioned”. If the party does not make such a choice within seven days, then the highest person on the list who is still in the assembly becomes mayor.
It seems likely that the 4th parliamentary commission, which is considering the law, will opt for the much simpler highest person on the list.
The other issue not even considered in the law is what happens if two parties gain exactly the same number of votes; in the event of a tie, who becomes mayor? One proposal being considered by the commission is a second round, only to elect the mayor.
Other changes
The draft electoral law bars local functionaries from being elected to the municipal assembly. It also explicitly prohibits people from being elected to assemblies at two different levels (national, province, district, municipality), which was already in the national election law but not in the municipal law.
Party agents (madatarios) no longer need to be named by the national party, and can be named locally.
There is no change in the five documents required for each candidate on a party list.
A few times are changed. Deadline for registration of parties is cut from 15 days before presentation of candidates lists to only 5 days. The National Elections Commission must publish a detailed list of all polling stations, with their locations and number of registered voters, 45 days before the election.
There are a number of editorial changes to the municipal election law, including removing references to the election of mayor, but which do not appear to change the basic system of local elections.
The previous law required that the book of ballot papers have exactly the same number of ballots as people on the register, but this could cause problems in cases of high turnout, for example if voters spoil ballot papers and want new ones, or people such as journalists and polling station staff vote in a polling station other than their own, as they are allowed. The draft law says ballot papers can be up to 10% more than registered voters.
A number of key things have not been changed, including the possibility to recount votes, which was introduced in 2014.
Naming streets is a national matter
The draft revisions to the municipalities law contains one interesting change. Naming of streets, squares and other locations must be approved by the Council of Ministers at national level, which will, in effect, prevent opposition parties from naming streets after their heroes.
By Joseph Hanlon
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