EU Election Observation Mission meets with Chapo

Maputo, 31 Jan (AIM) – The European Union Election Observation Mission (MOE-EU) reiterated on Thursday that it does not regard the Mozambican general elections held on 9 October as either fair or transparent.

Speaking in Maputo, after an audience with President Daniel Chapo, the head of the EU mission, Laura Ballarin, said that “a range of irregularities and discrepancies” affected the credibility of the elections and of the results announced by the National Elections Commission (CNE) and later validated by the Constitutional Council.

Ballarin said that, precisely because the elections were not free and fair, the Mission was leaving a list of 18 recommendations. If these were implemented, she believed they would ensure that the next Mozambican elections would have acceptable levels of credibility.

The recommendations, she added, are in line with Mozambique’s international commitments in electoral matters.

Ballarin said she is encouraged by the political dialogue now under way in Mozambique. She was referring to the meetings Chapo has held with the leaders of the parliamentary opposition parties, which might lead to far-reaching reforms,

She was also pleased by Chapo’s public commitment to overhauling the country’s electoral legislation.

“I transmitted this message to the President, who confirmed his intention to promote this reform”, she said

She hoped that the report from the EU Mission could support Mozambicans in regaining trust in public institutions. The EU would be prepared, through its delegation in Maputo, to provide technical assistance for electoral reform.

Ballarin warned that Chapo needs to move rapidly from words to deeds, and draw up a road map for the measures needed to strengthen Mozambique’s democratic institutions.

She added that, in the next few days, she hopes to meet with the other candidates who stood in the October presidential elections, notably the runner-up, Venancio Mondlane.

This is not the first time an EU mission has given recommendations to the Mozambican authorities. A set of recommendations was left after the 2019 elections, and not one of them was implemented.
(AIM)
Pf/ (337)