Mozambican elections had “multiple flaws” says EU Mission

Maputo, 31 Jan (AIM) – The European Union Election Observation Mission in Mozambique has concluded that the general elections held on 9 October “had multiple flaws at various levels”.

Presenting the Mission’s final report at a Maputo press conference on Friday, the EU’s Chief Observer, Laura Ballarin, said that voter registration “did not offer guarantees of integrity”, and that “the counting and tabulation of results were marred by anomalies and errors, as well as a serious lack of transparency”.

This included failure to publish the results sheets (“editais”) polling station by polling station “which negatively affected public confidence in the results”. The EU Mission had repeatedly asked for the polling station results sheets, but never received them.

The electoral management bodies, said Ballarin, “failed to supervise the process effectively, especially when it came to thoroughly checking for irregularities, enforcing compliance with the legal framework and guaranteeing the integrity of the ballot”.

Ballarin met on Friday morning with the runner-up in the presidential election, Venancio Mondlane. Asked about Mondlane’s responsibility for the post-election destruction and looting, Ballarin ducked the question and condemned all violence.

But it is Mondlane who has repeatedly called on motorists not to pay road tolls: he is therefore implicated in the destruction and burning of eight toll gates over the past month.

Ballarin simply replied that the EU mission condemns any post-election violence, whether it comes from the security forces or from street protests.

The Mission’s report contains 18 recommendations. Key among these is the call “to review the structure, composition and selection process of the election administration at all levels to enhance professionalism, integrity, accountability and impartiality”.

The election results management system, Ballarin added, should be reviewed “to ensure an efficient, uniform, consistent and transparent process, including a quick system to announce provisional results broken down by polling station, and unambiguous procedures for rectifying errors and discrepancies, with clear criteria for the recount of ballots”.

Ballarin wanted to see the National Elections Commission (CNE) “take full responsibility for the integrity of the election, by adopting measures to address the consequences of electoral offences and malpractices during voting, counting and tabulation of results to diminish their impact on the election results”.

Asked if this meant that the Mission favoured the complete separation of the political parties from the electoral machinery, Ballarin did not give a clear answer, even suggesting that it would be up to the parties themselves to decide how reform would be achieved.

Ballarin hoped that the Mission’s recommendations “can contribute to the ongoing political dialogue between the government, political parties and civil society”.
(AIM)
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