
Chefe da Missão de Observação Eleitoral da União Europeia, Margarida Alves, fala em conferência de imprensa em Maputo
Maputo, 14 Sep (AIM) – The European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission for Mozambique’s presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections, scheduled for 9 October, has announced that it will deploy a team to work in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Some parts of Cabo Delgado have been plagued by extreme violence carried out by Islamist terrorists since 2017.
According to Margarida Alves. the deputy head of the Observation Mission, who was speaking to reporters on Friday during the departure of 32 EU long-term observers from Maputo to other Mozambican provinces – a team will also be deployed to Cabo Delgado, despite the environment of insecurity that characterizes some parts of that province.
“We’re going to deploy a team to stay in Cabo Delgado for these first few weeks. The security and presence of our observers on the ground is a priority for the mission. All the deployment of observers is evaluated in the context of the country’s security, particularly for Cabo Delgado”, she said.
Alves said that security conditions are a priority for the “presence of our observers on the ground. All the deployment of observers is evaluated in the context of the country’s security.”
She explained that these observers are part of a group of more than 150 who will observe the entire elections.
“This group of observers arrived directly from Europe and spent three days in Maputo receiving very thorough and detailed training on the elections in Mozambique, the political context, the legal framework and all the issues relating to voting and the tabulation of votes”, she said.
She explained that once the observers are on the ground, they will have to contact the local authorities, civil society and also follow the events of the electoral campaign.
“They will report back to the central team, which is in Maputo, and with this information and observations we will compile our preliminary statement, which will be presented two days after election day”, she said.
According to Alves, “We have an observation methodology that has been tested over the last 20 years. It’s very consistent. We are impartial and we try to make a comprehensive analysis of the elections”.
(AIM)
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