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Renamo: INE’s new president has “made a declaration of war” – Mozambique
3:13 CAT | 05 Sep 2019
Venâncio Mondlane: "Waiting "makes absolutely no sense"
The new president of the National Institute of Statistics has announced that the results of the audit on the population census in Gaza province will not be known until after the elections. Renamo speaks of “declaration of war”.
It will only be in December 2019 that questions about the disparity between voter registration results in Gaza province and data from the 2017 Census data will be clarified, the new president of the National Statistics Institute (INE) Eliza Magaua says.
“We are working on checking each of the steps. The anticipated deadline is December 2019. At that time we will explain everything,” Magaua said after taking office on Tuesday (03/09).
But the largest opposition party, the Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO), rejects this deadline. Party spokesman Venâncio Mondlane says the issue must be resolved before the general elections scheduled for October 15.
“This statement by the new INE president represents, for us, a declaration of war,” Mondlane told a press conference on Wednesday (04/09).
Waiting until December “makes absolutely no sense. We cannot go to the vote without clarifying the situation. We want the whole nation to know that this is the position of the president of Renamo [Ossufo Momade],” he added.
Disparities
The controversy dates back to July, when INE confirmed that there were discrepancies between census data and voter registration results, as 300,000 more voters were registered to vote than the [alleged] total number of people of voting age.
A month later, the then president of INE, Rosario Fernandes, resigned for reasons of “consistency and principles”, justifying his resignation with the words: “When there is room for the suffocation of science and technique by any pressure, public policies are undermined.”
Are the CNE and PGR complicit?
In addition to criticising INE’s new president, Renamo accuses the National Election Commission (CNE) and the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) of Mozambique of being complicit in the controversy.
“From a legal point of view, electoral processes take precedence over all normal cases. The PGR received a criminal complaint more than a month ago and, at the very least, it should have notified Renamo to say what stage the case is at. The CNE received a request from Renamo for an audit, and for a month said absolutely nothing,” Venâncio Mondlane complains.
“Therefore, it is the PGR and the CNE who are serving as agents of the obstruction of electoral justice. This is a very serious situation which we want to draw attention to,” he concluded.
Simango: “A boot licker”
Gaza province is a “natural” stronghold for Frelimo, the ruling party. But this year’s controversial voter registration data point to a marked increase in voter turnout.
Given the many voices calling for an audit to be conducted as early as possible, Daviz Simango, the president of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), is also unsparing of criticism for the statements of the new INE president.
Political analyst Ricardo Raboco admits that the length of the audit process may be motivated by political interests. But it also takes time to check all the data, Raboco points out.
“What the new president of INE says is right, because, in fact, the institution has to investigate. We are talking about electoral data. Auditing a database of more than one million voters is not a job that can be done in a day or two – even a month. It takes time,” he says.
Source: Deutsche Welle
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