The European Union (EU) will send a mission of 130 observers to the October general elections in Mozambique, the European ambassador in Maputo announced on Thursday 22 August.
‘This will be the biggest mission. We’re talking about around 130 observers,’ Antonino Maggiore told the media at an event organised by the European Union Training Mission at the Marine School in Catembe.
According to Lusa, the observers, who will start arriving next week, will be distributed around the country ‘in line with an agreement already signed between the EU and Mozambique’, with the aim of observing the ‘pre-election period’ and, in particular, voting day, 9 October.
‘The aim of this mission is to monitor the situation on the ground, to understand how the elections are going to take place, in order to be able to provide an assessment, which will be presented to the government, the institutions and the public,’ said Antonino Maggiore.
Mozambique is holding general elections on 9 October, with the campaign officially kicking off on Saturday, in a ballot that includes presidential, legislative and provincial assembly elections.
More than 17.1 million voters are registered to vote, including 333,839 registered abroad, according to figures from the National Electoral Commission (CNE).
A total of 37 political forces are running in the legislative and provincial elections.
There are four candidates vying for the Ponta Vermelha seat (the official residence of the head of state in Mozambique): Daniel Chapo, supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo); Ossufo Momade, supported by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the main opposition party); Lutero Simango, supported by the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the third parliamentary force; and Venâncio Mondlane, now supported by the extra-parliamentary Optimistic People for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos).
