Voting extended to Saturday in Gilé, Maganja da Costa and Germany

Maputo, 11 Oct (AIM) – The spokesperson for Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE), Paulo Cuinica, announced on Thursday that over 12,000 residents of the districts of Gilé and Maganja da Costa, in the central province of Zambézia, will be able to vote in the county’s presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections on Saturday.

According to Cuinica, the voting that should have taken place on Wednesday will also be held in Germany, where 670 Mozambican voters are registered to vote.

“The placement of material across the country generally took place in good time”, he said. “However, we had some problems in Zambézia. In Maganja da Costa district, there was a shortage of some kits for the elections. 23 polling stations did not open in Zambezia, four in Maganja da Costa and 19 in Gilé district”, he said.

In Gile, the problem was that polling station staff (MMVs) went on strike, demanding money. A statement from the CNE said that a delay in paying a food allowance to the Gile MMVs led them to refuse to go to work at the polling stations on Wednesday.

It only proved possible to establish 147 polling station in Gile on voting day, rather than the 166 planned. This was the result of “the agitation provoked by the MMVs”, said the CNE

Cuinica said that the voting did not take place in Germany because “we had problems transporting the election material. The cargo didn’t make it to Berlin in time.”

Therefore, he said, the CNE decided that in these places, the voting should take place on Saturday.

“We will have 12,503 voters in Gilé and Maganja da Costa, and 670 in Germany. A CNE team has been sent to guarantee the security of the process”, he said.

Cuinica also condemned the claim of victory made by Venancio Mondlane, the independent presidential candidate backed by Podemos (Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique). He said it is still too soon to announce the results.

“All the candidates will have to wait for the competent bodies to announce the results”, he declared. “If there are complaints, the mechanisms established by law should be used. Some candidates have already used them and they have been successful. What we want is proof of this victory”, he said.

“We hope that, in due course, the candidate will be able to present all the evidence he claims to have for further decision on this issue”, he added.

Cuinica also told reporters that those who committed electoral offences will be held accountable by the courts.

“The cases were filed to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), then to the courts. And then, the electoral bodies will be informed about the cases. So far, we haven’t received any decision on the cases”, said Cuinica.
(AIM)
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