Mozambique: Publication of the election minutes is “the only way to trust the results” – João Cravinho

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Publication of the election minutes is “the only way to trust the results” – João Cravinho

5:36 CAT | 25 Oct 2024

File photo: Lusa

João Cravinho, who led the Electoral Observation Mission of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) to Mozambique, reiterated yesterday to Lusa that the publication of the electoral minutes “is the only way to have trust in the results”.

For the former Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, “there is no reason for the electoral results to have taken as long as they did, although this is clear in the law”.

He therefore considered that “each polling station […] must have its results visible, so that they can be aggregated publicly at district, provincial and national level. In the absence of this transparency, believing in the results is an act of faith”.

On 11 October, Cravinho had already pointed out that the mission “found large disparities in the number of party delegates, with one party [Frelimo] typically represented by two delegates at practically all polling stations, while other parties had a smaller presence”.

On the other hand, he also pointed out “uneven compliance with the provisions of the law, particularly with regard to counting procedures” and a “slowness” in publishing official results, with observers being left with “the impression” that this was due to “the excessive complexity and lack of efficiency of the procedures”, but also to “options made at some polling stations”.

The CPLP mission listed some recommendations for future elections, from encouraging greater participation of party delegates and strengthening the training of members of polling stations, to better checking the correspondence between votes cast and discharges registered on the voter lists, to speeding up the counting and publication of results. T

On Thursday, the CNE announced the victory of Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) in the election for President of the Republic on October 9, with 70.67% of the votes.

Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos, an extra-parliamentary party), came in second place, with 20.32% (1,412,517 votes).

In third place was Ossufo Momade, president of Renamo, previously the largest opposition party, with 403,591 votes (5.81%), followed by Lutero Simango, president of MDM, with 223,066 votes (3.21%).

Only 43.48% of the more than 17.1 million registered voters cast their ballots in this election.

The general elections of October 9 included the seventh presidential elections – in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the limit of two terms, has not run – simultaneously with legislative elections and elections for provincial assemblies and governors.

The announcement of the results by the CNE on Thursday came on the first of two days of general strike and demonstrations across the country called by candidate Venâncio Mondlane against this year’s electoral process, which is being marked by clashes between protesters and the police on the main avenues of the Mozambican capital.

🗳️O Chefe da Missão de Observação Eleitoral da CPLP às Eleições em Moçambique, João Gomes Cravinho, apresentou uma declaração preliminar com os resultados da observação realizada, no dia 11 de outubro, em Maputo.
➡️Leia a Declaração preliminar: https://t.co/MsPl4Pun88 pic.twitter.com/swMNKQpqQH

— CPLP (@_CPLP) October 11, 2024