Mozambique: Montepuez municipal council breaks electoral law – AIM report

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Mozambique: Montepuez municipal council breaks electoral law – AIM report

11:13 CAT | 24 Sep 2019

File photo: A Verdade

The municipal council in the town of Montepuez, in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, has illegally banned opposition parties from using a public municipal space known as “Descasque do Arroz” in the present election campaign, according to a report on the Facebook page of “Sala da Paz” (“Peace Room”), a coalition of election observation bodies.

On 10 September, the Montepuez district delegation of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) applied for use of the space to hold a rally on 13 September that was to be addressed by the MDM leader and presidential candidate, Daviz Simango.

The following day the Municipal Council replied that it was not possible to satisfy the MDM’s request because the ruling Frelimo Party had booked “Descasque do Arroz” from the entire period from 28 August to 13 October – that is, for the entire duration of the election campaign. “Sala da Paz” publishes copies of both letters.

This is a gross violation of the law on general elections. The law, as amended earlier this year, states, in Article 26, that “Local state bodies and municipal authorities shall ensure that public buildings and spaces belonging to the State and to other collective persons in public law, shall be granted for use by the various candidates for purposes of the election campaign”.

The use of those buildings and spaces, the law says, must be “shared equitably” among the various candidates, which clearly makes it illegal to allocate a public space to one and the same party for the entire election campaign.

Source: AIM