Candidates for general elections in Mozambique have 75 days to submit applications

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Candidates for general elections in Mozambique have 75 days to submit applications

2:28 CAT | 05 Apr 2019

The Law on the Election of Deputies of the Assembly of the Republic was approved yesterday, in general and by consensus, by the three benches of the Mozambican parliament. Photo: TVM

The Mozambican parliament has move forward the deadline for nominations to the Presidency of the Republic from 120 to 75 days before the October 15 elections, bringing it in line with the new voter registration dates.

The new deadline is contained in the draft Law on the Election of the President of the Republic and the Law on the Election of Deputies of the Assembly of the Republic, approved yesterday, in general and by consensus, by the three benches of the Mozambican parliament.

Under the legislation approved yesterday, candidates for the Presidency of the Republic and lists of candidates from political parties or coalitions of political parties must submit their candidatures 75 days before the general elections, against the previous 120 days.

Lucas Chomera, the chairman of the Public Administration and Local Government Commission, said in parliament that this is a transitional exception, aiming to accommodate the new electoral calendar approved in the wake of Cyclone Idai, which severely affected the centre of the country.

After the October 15 general elections, the 120-day time limit will be legally fixed for the submission of candidatures to the Presidency of the Republic and to the Assembly of the Republic.

The Mozambican government postponed the beginning of the voter registration from April 1 to April 15 last week on account of the consequences of Cyclone Idai in the centre of the country. Instead of running from April 1 to May 15, as previously planned, voter registration for this year’s general election will be held between April 15 and May 30.

The laws passed yesterday also rule out the requirement of prior objection at the polling station for appeals of alleged electoral wrongdoing to district courts. The elimination of mandatory prior challenge had already been accomplished in the electoral laws and on the decentralisation package approved last week.

Prior to this legislative measure, political parties, coalitions of political parties or citizens’ groups had to file a complaint at the polling station in order to be able to file a complaint in the district court against electoral offences.

The prior objection requirement had already been considered unconstitutional by the Constitutional Council in the ruling on the results of the local elections of October 15.

Source: Lusa