Mozambique: Annulling the elections should be one of the solutions on the table – lawyers

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Mozambique: Annulling the elections should be one of the solutions on the table – lawyers

6:59 CAT | 06 Nov 2024

Screen grab: DW

The Mozambican Bar Association (OAM) said today that annulling the elections is “one of the equations that should be on the table” in the dialogue to stop the violence that the institution advocates.

“What we are saying is that there is no reliable data, there is no data that can lead us to a decision that brings electoral justice. So, annulling the elections is naturally also one of the equations that should be on the table in these negotiations,” chairman of the OAM Carlos Martins said at a press conference in Maputo this morning.

Martins called on the President of the Republic, Filipe Nyusi, to start a “genuine dialogue” with everyone, including presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, adding that the Bar Association was available to mediate the process.

“When the results were announced, the National Elections Commission [CNE] itself admitted that there was a discrepancy in the numbers, a glaring discrepancy. So, at that moment, even the CNE itself could have said, look, there are no conditions to move forward, therefore, the data that is here, that we are analysing, is not reliable, and as such we should repeat the elections (…). It just went through the motions and shifted the matter to the Constitutional Council [CC],” Martins said.

He added that the CC itself had already notified the CNE, yesterday Tuesday, “to clarify these same irregularities” raised by that electoral body.

“Other solutions should also be on the table, such as the constitution of the CNE itself, the way we look at the CC itself, whether it is worth continuing with this type of entity in the future. If it is not worth professionalizing the electoral management bodies in another way, because we cannot be enduring cyclical conflict, we cannot. And that is what we have been enduring since 1994; every election has ended in conflict,” he stressed.

He recalled that the Mozambican population now exceeds 35 million, a “very young society”, with “almost 80%” of those who voted in these general elections born between 2000 and 2005.

“The type of demands of a society like this is different. And even the dialogue must be different. That’s what we are saying. Because before, we negotiated with one force, which was Renamo [Mozambican National Resistance, then with an armed wing]. Not today. (…) It is important that all the forces are called upon. We do not want a bloodbath in Mozambique,” Martins said.

READ: Mozambique Elections: Lawyers ask President for “genuine dialogue” to avoid “a bloodbath” on Thursday – Watch

The announcement by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) of Mozambique on 24 October, in which it attributed the victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for President of the Republic, with 70.67% of the votes, sparked popular protests, following an appeal by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane.

According to the CNE, Venâncio Mondlane came in second place, with 20.32%, but he stated that he did not recognise these results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.

After street protests that paralyzed the country, Mondlane once again called on the population to a seven-day general strike, starting on October 31, with nationwide protests that have degenerated into violence and police intervention, and a demonstration concentrated in Maputo called for this Thursday.

Mozambique’s Minister of National Defence, Cristóvão Chume, on Tuesday said there were signs of a “firm and credible intention to change” the constitutional order, warning that, if the violence continued to escalate, the Armed Forces would be called upon to “protect” the state.

“If the escalation of violence continues, there will be no other alternative but to change the positions of the forces on the ground and put the Armed Forces to protect what are the state’s goals,” said the minister, explaining that at the moment the military is only on the ground to support the other security forces and protect the population.

Source: Lusa