This Friday, 13 September, the European Union (EU) deployed 32 long-term observers (LTOs) from its Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) in two-person teams to all of Mozambique’s provinces, reinforcing the monitoring of the electoral process throughout the country.
According to a statement received by Diário Económico, the PLOs arrived in Maputo on 9 September and took part in a three-day training course.
The deputy head of mission, Margarida Alves, explained that ‘once on the ground, the observers will meet with all the interlocutors involved in the electoral process, such as local authorities, electoral institutions, candidates, the media and representatives of civil society’.
All the information collected by the PLO will be sent to the central team in Maputo. This data collection will form the basis for a preliminary statement that will be presented two days after the elections at a press conference.
‘The observers will report back to the central team, based in Maputo, and this factual information gathered will be the basis for a preliminary declaration,’ added Alves.
She also emphasised that the mission follows a rigorous and impartial methodology, developed over the last 20 years of experience in electoral observation. ‘We are impartial and make a comprehensive analysis of the electoral process,’ he emphasised.
In response to questions about criticisms of the EU’s dual criteria in electoral processes in different countries, such as Venezuela and the 2023 local elections in Mozambique, Margarida Alves said that ‘the mission’s methodology does not allow for comparing elections between countries’, and also clarified that in last year’s local elections in Mozambique, the EU did not deploy an electoral observation mission.
However, the representative recalled that one of the recommendations of the 2019 mission was ‘the publication of the original polling station notices, accessible to all’, reiterating that it was an ‘excellent recommendation because it aims to contribute to greater transparency and credibility in the electoral process.’
The EOM to Mozambique will include more than 150 observers from 24 EU member states, Norway and Switzerland on election day, demonstrating the EU’s commitment to the transparency and legitimacy of the electoral process in the country.
