Frelimo youth wing rejects accusations it is ‘blocking’ voter registration

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Frelimo youth wing rejects accusations it is ‘blocking’ voter registration

7:51 CAT | 25 May 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: OJM]

The Mozambican Youth Organization (OJM), the youth wing of Frelimo, the ruling party, yesterday denied accusations that its members were involved in “blocking” voter registration for the October 11 municipal elections.

On Monday, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican non-governmental organization (NGO) involved in election observation, accused members of the OJM of promoting “blockages” at registration posts, with a view to disadvantaging voters in areas where the opposition tends to have more supporters.

In a reaction to the allegations, OJM secretary general Silva Livone told Lusa that these accusations aim to “construct the idea that the electoral process is not going well, in order to be able to discredit the electoral bodies”.

Livone underlined that the electoral administration bodies are constituted based on the principle of “parity” and that, to promote transparency, the direction of these entities is composed of all parties with parliamentary representation.

“They [opposition parties] participate in the entire recruitment process” of staff working in voter registration, he pointed out.

Calling the accusations brought by the CIP “serious”, Silva Livone accused the NGO of being made up of “politicians disguised as civil society”, who are looking for arguments to “justify a possible defeat of the opposition” in the municipal elections.

Livone pointed out that all citizens with legal requirements can apply for the position of ‘brigadista’ in electoral registration posts, without discrimination based on party affiliation.

Frelimo spokeswoman Ludmila Maguni also distanced herself from the accusations, noting that the deficiencies that have been reported in the voter registration process are due to technical and equipment problems, not party interference.

“I myself waited six hours to be able to register at the registration office I went to,” Maguni said, adding that brigade members there said that there were problems with the equipment or that they could not “print the cards”.

The spokeswoman for the ruling party said that more people should be encouraged to register for the municipal elections.

In the allegations against Frelimo, CIP researcher Lázaro Mabuda cited “blockades made by the ‘brigadistas’ of the registration posts selected by the ruling party, through a list addressed to the electoral administration bodies”.

Source: Lusa