Mozambique: EU calls on government to implement election recommendations

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Mozambique: EU calls on government to implement election recommendations

12:18 CAT | 16 Jun 2023

File photo: Lusa

The European Union (EU) on Friday called on Mozambique to implement the recommendations of the EU Election Observation Mission for the 2019 elections in the country, which this year will start a new cycle of elections.

The position was expressed during the 33rd Session of the Political Dialogue between Mozambique and the EU, which was held today in the city of Tete, in the central interior of the country.

“The EU encouraged the implementation of the recommendations of the 2019 European Union Election Observation Mission, in particular those on the protection of civic space, freedom of expression and press freedoms, and the review of electoral legislation,” the joint statement at the end of the meeting said.

At the time, the European observers considered that the actions of the Mozambican police were outside “international standards,” recommending that they protect the rights of voters rather than being an active part of the electoral processes.

The mission pointed to the murder of election observer Anastácio Matavel on the eve of the 2019 general elections – for which six police officers were sentenced to prison terms – as an example of the illegal actions of members of the corporation.

In terms of the revision of laws, it was recommended that Mozambican legislation should concentrate the direction of electoral acts in the National Elections Commission (CNE) to avoid dispersion by more than one entity, which makes it difficult to impute responsibilities over the process.

Mozambique has local elections scheduled for 11 October and will hold general elections in 2024.

The work of the session of Political Dialogue between the EU and Mozambique was led by Mozambique’s minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Verónica Macamo, and the EU Ambassador in Maputo, Antonino Maggiore.

The meeting was attended by the ambassadors of the member states resident in Mozambique, namely Germany, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden, as well as representatives from Austria and Belgium.

Source: Lusa