Mozambique Elections: Matola recount suspended by District Elections Commission appeal to Constitutional Court

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Mozambique Elections: Matola recount suspended by District Elections Commission appeal to Constitutional Court

3:37 CAT | 23 Oct 2023

Image: Sala da Paz

Matola District Elections Commission has appealed the decision by the Matola District Court ordering a recount of the votes in the municipality. The MDM refutes the District Elections Commission’s allegations and says it will sue the body’s president.

When everything seemed to be headed for the recount of votes in all assemblies in Matola, following last Thursday’s Judicial Court ruling, after MDM’s challenge, 24 hours later, this appeal from the Matola District Elections Commission appears, demanding the annulment of the court decision.

To support its appeal, the Electoral Commission in Matola alleges, among other issues, that the court is not competent and the documents supporting to decision were not valid. It also said that there is a lack of justification for the real reasons that led the judge to order the vote recount in Matola.

“The appealed Court did not pay attention to its jurisdiction, when it decided to grant an action filed with the Judicial Court of the City of Matola, (as can be seen from the heading of the petition for the electoral litigation appeal), which can only be confused with the Judicial Court of the Province of Maputo due to its jurisdiction. Now, the City of Matola is made up of three Administrative Posts, namely, Matola Sede, Machava and Infulene, and in each of them there are District Level Courts that are responsible for the competent electoral litigation resources,” the document reads.

Among the other arguments designed to convince the Constitutional Council to annul the decision to recount, the Matola District Elections Commission also alleges that, five hours before the notification of the judiciary’s decision, the MDM has submitted a request to withdraw the process from the court.

“MDM, as an appellant, submitted a request for withdrawal to the Court, on October 19th, five hours before notification of the court’s decision, but this request did not merit any order from the court,” the text reads.

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In addition to mentioning that there was no integrity [‘idoneidade’] in issuing the sentence, justifying that the Judicial Court did not comply with the sine qua non requirements for validating the sentence, under the terms of art. e) of n.3 of article 413 CPP, given that the sentence allegedly did not contain either the judge’s signature or the stamp in use in the Judicial Court of the District of Matola, which it believes would imply the nullity of the sentence, the CNE in Matola also alleges that the court had no jurisdiction, pointing to an “usurpation of powers”.

“As can be seen from the sentence, published on social media before the parties were notified and subsequently notified to the commission, there is a clear and unequivocal usurpation of powers, since the decision made by the court to recount votes is the exclusive responsibility of the National Elections Commission or the Constitutional Council, as set out in no. 1 of article 145 of Law number 14/2018, of December 18th.”

The Matola District Elections Commission also complains about the lateness of the decision, as the appeal was filed with the court on October 16, 2023, and the appellant was only notified of the order at the end of October 19, 2023, when around 72 hours had already passed, which violates the provisions of no. 5 article 140 of Law number 14/2018, of December 18th.

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Regarding this appeal by the District Elections Commission, the MDM reacted, this Friday, exclusively to STV, refuting all the allegations that call into question its appeal and complaining that, as a member of the Elections Commission, the party was not heard on the Commission’s appeal to the Constitutional Council. On the other hand, MDM questions the intention of the District Elections Commission in trying to prevent the recount of votes.

“The president of the Matola District Elections Commission, unilaterally, wrote a document and submitted it to the Constitutional Council, without meeting with the collegial body, which includes MDM, Renamo, Frelimo and Civil Society. We would like to know what the Matola District Elections Commission is hiding,” said Augusto Pelembe, head of the MDM list in Matola.

Pelembe further says the argument that a member of his political party submitted a request to withdraw the appeal is false.

The MDM is to sue the president of the Matola District Elections Commission, Carolina Matavele Cumbana.

“We are going to communicate to the country, but we are also going to sue the president of the Matola District Elections Commission, because she cannot accuse the MDM of having falsified the sentence of a court,” Pelembe said, adding that the MDM would not give up until the electoral truth is restored, even if party members were intimidated.

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Source: O País