Matsinhe claims CNE working for free and fair elections

Maputo, 1 Mar (AIM) – The chairperson of Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE), Anglican Bishop Carlos Matsinhe, promised on Thursday that the CNE is working to ensure that everything runs smoothly for the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.

He has an uphill struggle to rebuild the credibility of the CNE after the chaotic municipal elections of October 2023, marred by multiple irregularities and frauds.

The CNE, including its chairperson, was blamed for the irregularities, and for a set of results that were so unbelievable, that some of them had to be corrected by the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law.

There were calls for Matsinhe’s resignation – but he did not heed them, and he clearly intends to stay in place until after this year’s elections.

Speaking at a round table on election disputes and crimes, cited by the independent television station STV, Matsinhe claimed that the CNE “has made efforts to involve all the living forces of society in holding elections that are peaceful, free, fair, transparent, inclusive and credible”.

To this end, he added, the CNE has been swapping experiences with its counterparts from other countries who have held elections in the midst of adversities.

The purpose of these actions, he said, is to ensure that all candidates will feel reflected in the election results.

At the round table, representatives of the Supreme Court stressed the power of district law courts during election periods. Supreme Court justice Antonio Namburete said magistrates must be trained so that they can handle election disputes.

“These bodies”, he said, “have an added responsibility, in that they must decide, in accordance with the law, taking on their role as impartial referees, equidistant from the competing candidates”.

The presiding judge of the Maputo City law court, Gracinda Muiambo, said the purpose of the round table was to bring together the Attorney-General’s Office, the National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) and the CNE, to prevent election disputes. They should all be armed with the knowledge that allows a uniform interpretation of the electoral legislation.

But the legislation is notoriously unstable, and is about to undergo major amendments once again. Rewriting the election laws is on the agenda of the current sitting of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. Major changes in the laws could be approved just weeks before the start of the general election campaign.

One contentious issue concerns the powers of district and city law courts. The Supreme Court has not hidden its anger at the drive by the Constitutional Council to strip the courts of meaningful powers to intervene in elections.

The Council has declared that it, and it alone, has the power to cancel elections or order a recount of the votes. This reduces the courts to little more than glorified errand boys, transmitting messages between the candidates and the Constitutional Council.

This can only be changed by parliament specifying in law the detailed powers of the courts in elections.

(AIM)

Pf/ (509)