Constitutional Council rejects Renamo’s Appeal in Marromeu

Maputo, 24 Dec (AIM) – Mozambique’s Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, has rejected the appeal submitted by Renamo, the largest opposition party in the country, against the official results in the municipality of Marromeu, in the central province of Sofala.

The party was asking for the annulment of results of the repeat elections held on 10 December in 18 polling stations, due to many irregularities recorded. Renamo also denounced the falsification of 18 polling station minutes and results sheets (“editais”) and the fact that its monitors did not have access to these documents.

Despite these abuses, noted not only by Renamo but also by independent observer groups, the Constitutional Council claims that there is no evidence to annul the vote. The body concluded that the District Elections Commission had complied with all the procedures and the party had not presented any evidence.

The Council states that “in relation to Renamo’s claim that its monitors did not have access to the minutes and the results sheets, it has been proven that the monitors left the polling stations before the end of the partial count when the Frelimo party was ahead in the votes.”

“The District Electoral Commission summoned all the political representatives and the applicant’s representative was present, although he left the venue before the end of the tabulation process”, said the Council.

But the election observation consortium “Mais Integridade” (“More Integrity”) issued a statement on 13 December that the gross irregularities that occurred during the repeat elections in Marromeu “do not allow any institution to declare, with any credibility and certainty, who won”.

According to the “Mais Integridade” statement, the irregularities included interruptions in the counting of votes in many polling stations, so that the station chairpersons could consult among themselves and with representatives of the Frelimo Party before concluding the process and filling out the results sheets; the departure of the chairpersons from several polling stations with the editais, but before posting them in the station walls; the excessive number of invalid votes, which is greater than the difference between the two most voted parties, and other abuses, “which call into question the integrity, transparency and credibility of the election”.

None of this seems to have bothered the Constitutional Council.

(AIM)

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