Mozambique: Demand to anul selection procedures for CNE members – AIM

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Mozambique: Demand to anul selection procedures for CNE members – AIM

10:20 CAT | 27 Nov 2020

File photo: DW

Several of the best known and most significant bodies in Mozambican civil society have demanded annulment of the current procedure to selection the members from civil society who will sit on the new National Elections Commission (CNE).

The selection process is being handled, not by anybody from civil society, but by an ad-hoc commission from the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, consisting of five deputies – three from the ruling Frelimo Party (Antonio Amelia, Lucilia Nota Hama and Goncalves Maceda), one from the main opposition party, Renamo (Jose Manteigas), and one from the Mozambique Democratic Movement, MDM (Jose Domingos Manuel).

The CNE is a top-heavy, unprofessional and deeply politicised body. Thanks to a law passed in February 2014, under pressure from Renamo, it has 17 members – five from Frelimo, four from Renamo, one from the MDM, and seven from civil society.

But the civil society members are not genuinely chosen by civil society. Instead, names are put forward, and then the ad-hoc commission selects those who will be voted upon by the Assembly plenary. A minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16 names must be submitted to the plenary. Thus the names from civil society organisations are filtered through the three political parties, and, with a majority on the Ad-Hoc Commission and in the plenary, Frelimo has a clear veto.

The CNE has support bodies in the shape of the provincial and district election commissions, formed in much the same way. They each have three members appointed by Frelimo, two from Renamo, one from the MDM and nine from civil society. The civil society members are filtered through the Assembly of the Republic (and hence through the three political parties), in the case of the provincial elections commissions, and through the provincial commissions, in the case of the district commissions.

This politicization extends to the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the electoral branch of the civil service, which does all the organizational work to ensure that elections can take place.

During electoral periods, at central level, STAE includes, alongside its professional civil servants, six deputy directors chosen by the parties (three by Frelimo, two by Renamo and one by the MDM), and 18 other staff members from the parties (nine from Frelimo, eight from Renamo and one from the MDM). The provincial, district and city branches of STAE all have 12 political appointees (six from Frelimo, four from Renamo and two from the MDM)

This means that there are literally thousands of political appointees in the provinces and districts, and the danger is that they will look after the interests of their parties rather than of the wider electorate.

Genuine civil society bodies have now protested strongly at the way the CNE is formed. A statement signed by several meaningful civil society bodies, such as the Women’s Forum, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), the Forum of Community Radios (FORCOM) and the Mozambican chapter of the regional press freedom body MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa) have demanded “a public discussion of the profile of the candidates to be selected”.

The criteria for eligibility for CNE membership lack objectivity, the civil society organisations say, and contain such vague terms as “recognized moral and professional merit” (although, to be fair to the ad-hoc commission, these words are taken directly from the 2014 law on the CNE).

The civil society statement says “to promote the permanent participation of citizens in the life of the nation, as defended by the Mozambican constitution, we favour a public debate on the terms of reference for the election, taking as its centre a discussion on the profile of the candidates, which should be in line with the principles of independence and impartiality”.

The statement argued that candidates for the CNE from civil society should not be members of or have other links with political parties “in order not to distort the independence demanded by the Constitution”.

They should also have proven experience of work in the various key areas of electoral administration or of teaching in the area of elections “since the CNE is a body that supervises voter registration and election procedures, and this demands of its members deep knowledge of electoral matters”.

The civil society organization demanded that the Assembly Ad-Hoc Commission annul its announcement seeking candidates, and instead embark on public consultation about the profile expected of CNE members from civil society “to allow the drafting of objective criteria of eligibility in line with the nature of the CNE, which should be independent and impartial”.

Source: AIM