Nyusi calls on constitutional council to guarantee electoral justice

Maputo, 12 Sep (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has called on the Constitutional Council, the country’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, to guarantee legality and justice in the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections scheduled for 9 October.

According to the President, who was speaking on Wednesday in Maputo, after swearing into office Lúcia Ribeiro for a further five year term as chairperson of the Council, elections must be seen as the fulfillment of fundamental rights.

On the same occasion, he also swore into office the other six judges of the Council.

“The judges of the Constitutional Council take office at a crucial moment for the country, because the elections are underway, right now in the campaign phase”, he said. “The Council’s biggest challenge is to guarantee legality and justice in electoral disputes as a guarantor of our unitary state.”

“Mozambicans”, he added, “want affirmation of their choice and are not asking for favours or gifts. The wider range of actors participating in and managing the elections means a greater scrutiny of the Council’s actions, in which it must ensure that all election disputes are resolved in accordance with the law”.

“In a competition, everyone is preparing to win”, Nyusi said. “The judge must work with the rules. Sometimes ignorance of how constitutional justice works creates the temptation to anticipate the Council’s decisions in various ways”, he said.

According to Nyusi, the Council must look for mechanisms to minimize the impact of conflicts, so that the voters can act in an informed and responsible manner.

“It is the Constitutional Council’s duty to take on the role of educator so that these players intervene with knowledge of the facts and make objectively founded considerations”, he said.

He also said that the effort to interact with society is necessary and healthy, because it aims to guarantee understanding, transparency and trust in the elections.

There are seven judges on the Council – one proposed by the President of the Republic, one by the Higher Council of the Judicial Magistrature (the regulatory body for judges), and five by the Assembly.

The Assembly’s five members are chosen by the political party parliamentary groups on the basis of “proportional representation”. This means that Frelimo chooses four of them, and Renamo one. The third parliamentary group, that of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) is not large enough to choose a Council member.

Thjs composition means that Frelimo enjoys an automatic majority on the Council.

Nyusi re-appointed Ribeiro as chairperson, and the Assembly ratified his decision on 31 July.

Of the 222 deputies present, 192 (89.7 per cent) voted in favour of ratification, while 21 (9.8 per cent) voted against. There was one blank ballot.

That comes to 214 votes. Since there were 222 deputies in the room, it can only be concluded that eight did not cast a vote.

There are only 184 deputies from the ruling Frelimo Party, and so eight opposition deputies must have voted in favour of ratification.

Prior to the vote, Frelimo deputy Clarice Milato described the ratification as “pertinent and opportune”. She claimed that Ribeiro is “unbiased” and “she will be able to continue leading a sovereign body with a great deal of capacity and impartiality in its constitutional decisions”.

Jose Manteigas, of Renamo, had a very different view. Right from its creation, the Constitutional Council had not inspired confidence, he claimed, because “it sponsored consecutive and recurrent election frauds”.

Fernando Bismarque, of the MDM, called for amending the Constitution so that senior figures in the judiciary, such as the chairperson of the Constitutional Council or the President of the Supreme Court,are no longer appointed by the President of the Republic. Instead, they should be chosen by their peers.

“The act we are witnessing today”, said Bismarque, “is a mere formality which does not change the subservient nature of the members of the Constitutional Council”.

(AIM)

dt/Ad/pf (660)