Mozambique’s Council of Ministers awaits communication on Nampula vote

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Mozambique’s Council of Ministers awaits communication on Nampula vote

10:57 CAT | 01 Feb 2018

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The Mozambican Council of Ministers is waiting for information from electoral management entities before deciding on the date for a second round in the by-election in Nampula, one of the country’s main municipalities, said the spokeswoman for that body.

“This matter still rests at the level of the bodies that manage the electoral process,” spokeswoman Ana Comoana said after Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, the first since the vote held on Wednesday, January 24.

“In a timely manner, it being justified, the government can rule on all issues that may be relevant.”

It is up to the Council of Ministers to set a date for a second round of voting, “to take place within thirty days of the validation and proclamation of the results of the first round”, Mozambican electoral law establishes.

The Nampula District Election Commission (CDE) announced on Friday that none of the candidates in the by-election won more than 50 percent of the vote, which, according to the law, should lead to a second round.

Only a quarter of the 296,000 voters went to the polls, with Frelimo, the ruling party, taking 44.5 percent of the vote, followed by the largest opposition party, Renamo, with 40.3 percent.

The second round of voting will make any incumbency even shorter than would be the case, with country-wide local elections in Mozambique scheduled for October 15.

Nampula is 1,300 kilometres north of the capital, Maputo, and is among the most populated areas of the country after the capital and its suburbs.

The Nampula by-election was held after its mayor, Mahamudo Amurane, was shot dead outside his home on October 4, 2017, in a murder that is still being investigated.

Source: Lusa