Mozambique Elections. Constitutional Council quashes annulment of Chokwé elections

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Mozambique Elections. Constitutional Council quashes annulment of Chokwé elections

7:55 CAT | 24 Oct 2023

Image: Sala da Paz

The Mozambican Constitutional Council (CC) today considered null and void the court order that annulled the local elections in Chokwé, declaring that it is solely up to the body [the Constitutional Council] to annul ballots, although it admits the existence of irregularities raised by the opposition that will be evaluated in a “proper process”.

“In effect, paragraph d) of article no. 2 of the Constitution of the Republic concentrated the competence to validate the results of the elections in the Constitutional Council, meaning that it is the exclusive competence of the CC to validate the results. This is a concentrated model of validating the results of an election, which excludes any intention of the electoral courts of first instance to exercise this power”, states the CC in a ruling released today.

At issue is the decision of the Chokwé Judicial Court to annul the elections in the municipality of Chokwé and the repetition of the vote, considering that the New Democracy (ND) party, an extra-parliamentary force, was prevented from monitoring the vote.

READ: Mozambique: Courts annul local elections in Cuamba and Chókwè, order Maputo CDE to hand over original editais

Mozambique elections: Courts annul elections in Cuamba and Chokwe – AIM

The city of Chokwè is part of Gaza province, a constituency dominated by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling party, and often the scene of political violence at election time.

Source: Lusa