Mistrust marks preparations for Nampula by-election

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Mistrust marks preparations for Nampula by-election

12:08 CAT | 28 Nov 2017

DW /Manuel Bissopo, secretary general of Renamo, the largest opposition party in Mozambique

Renamo has accused the Technical Secretariat for the Administration of Elections (STAE) of fraud in favour of the ruling party, Frelimo. The STAE denies the charge, reminding Renamo that its staff are also part of the board.

Preparations for the by-election in Nampula municipality in northern Mozambique on January 24, 2018, are already creating controversy within some opposition political parties, Renamo included.

Renamo secretary general Manuel Bissopo has alleged indications of irregularities on the part of the electoral body in favour the ruling party, Frelimo.

“We are aware from sources that at the level of STAE, Frelimo is trying to manipulate the electoral registers by inserting names that are not included in the voter list of 2014 [last elections],” he said.

Exemption, demands Renamo

Bissopo said that this would only harm people and suggests that “there must be an effort to discourage Frelimo so that STAE remains free of party influence to benefit of one party and to the detriment of thousands of people in Nampula who will not be able to vote”.

He also has some advice for the electoral administration body. “The desire is that they abandon this practice. We are going into the elections with total freedom and transparency, because the citizens of Nampula deserve it.”

Afonso Dhlakama’s party, which boycotted the 2013 municipal elections as a way of pressuring for a revision of the electoral law, has promised to monitor proceedings and warns that it will protest if it sees any irregularities in the by-election next January.

“Of course if they steal [votes], we will complain. Our expectation is that they will abandon fraudulent practices and adopt their own mechanisms to win, and accept that they have lost if they lose,” Bissopo said.

STAE denies deception

Kommunalwahl Nampula Mosambik — 2013 municipal elections in Nampula

Meanwhile, Nampula STAE deputy director Luís Sande, says that it does not dispute the truth of Renamo’s accusations, renamo also being a member of this body.

Sande said there would be no room for deception, and that “nobody will feel threatened because the electoral registers will be published and people will arrive in time to find out on which registers they appear”.

“We all participated in the 2013 ballot, and we know how many [voters] there are. So there is no room for carryings-on, because the registers will be published days before and, possibly, validated, and then we will move on.”

All three parties with seats in the Assembly of the Republic, namely Frelimo, Renamo and MDM, have representation in the STAE, alongside members of civil society organisations.

The municipal elections in Nampula scheduled for January follow on from the assassination of the mayor, Mahamudo Amurane, on 4 October. His office was temporarily occupied by Manuel Tocova, who resigned after being charged with the illegal possession of a firearm and replaced by Americo da Costa Iemenle.

Nampula municipality had been governed by the MDM since the municipal elections in 2013. The winner of the forthcoming election will only hold office until October 10, 2018, when there will be local elections throughout the country.

Source: Deutsche Welle