Mozambique Elections: Non-parliamentary parties accuse Frelimo of illicit acts in local elections

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Mozambique Elections: Non-parliamentary parties accuse Frelimo of illicit acts in local elections

4:15 CAT | 07 Nov 2023

Photo: O País

Twelve non-parliamentary parties in Mozambique on Monday accused the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) of committing ” illicit electoral acts” in order to win the local elections on 11 October, and have demanded the dissolution of the relevant electoral bodies.

“The extra-parliamentary parties demand criminal accountability for all of those involved in electoral crimes, those who rigged the ‘editais’ [notices] benefiting a party, which is Frelimo, which is in power,” said Hipólito Cuco, president of the Electoral Union, a coalition that brings together 12 extra-parliamentary political parties, at a press conference in Maputo.

Hipólito Cuco further demanded the dissolution of the National Elections Commission (CNE) and Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), blaming these entities for the “several mishaps” recorded during the vote, and urged the Constitutional Council (CC), the body that must still proclaim and validate the electoral results, to make a decision that reflects the electoral truth.

“We addressed the Constitutional Council , as a last resort, so that its decision is precise, so that the situation does not reach more alarming levels,” Cuco stressed.

He also accused the President of the Republic, and of Frelimo, Filipe Nyusi, of trying to influence the Constitutional Council by participating in celebrations of the 20th anniversary of its creation on Monday.

“The President of the Republic should distance himself from these events, to eliminate this type of suspicion. He should not interfere with the Constitutional Council at a time when the it has to make decisions on electoral offences,” Cocu said.

The president of the Electoral Union also recommended the introduction of electronic voting in the 2024 general elections, arguing that this method of voting might “mitigate” electoral fraud.

The sixth municipal elections in Mozambique took place in 65 municipalities across the country on October 11, including 12 new municipalities, which went to vote for the first time.

The results presented by the CNE indicate a victory for Frelimo in 64 of the country’s 65 municipalities, while the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), the third largest party, maintained Beira. According to the CNE results, Renamo, which in the previous 53 municipalities led in eight, was left without any municipality, despite claiming victory in the country’s largest cities.

Source: Lusa