The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to the general elections that took place on Wednesday 9 October in Mozambique considered that the vote was ‘peaceful and orderly’, in a ‘context of public distrust and affected credibility of the electoral process’.
Presenting the preliminary assessment of the electoral process, the head of the mission, Laura Ballarín, pointed out that the ‘electoral bodies conducted the vote in an orderly manner’, that people ‘voted calmly and the procedures were mostly followed’, emphasising that, during the campaign, ‘fundamental freedoms were generally respected’.
‘In total, the EU EOM sent 179 observers from 24 EU member states, who worked throughout the country, and on election day they visited 729 polling stations in all provinces and 78 districts,’ he emphasised.
She pointed out that there was ‘a clear distortion of the conditions in favour of the ruling party during the campaign, with the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) benefiting from the advantages inherent in power through the misuse of state resources’.
In her speech, Laura Ballarín emphasised that ‘the electoral campaign was conducted peacefully and that freedom of expression was generally respected throughout the campaign period’.
‘There was a notable lack of confidence in the reliability of the electoral roll and the independence of the electoral bodies, and some cases of ballot box stuffing were also observed. In addition, our observers reported that the vote count was slow and suffered from disorganisation and a lack of clarity,’ he said.
Ballarín said that most of the opposition political parties expressed a lack of confidence in the impartiality and independence of the electoral bodies, including the Constitutional Council. ‘The CNE’s lack of a public communication strategy contributed to this mistrust,’ he said.
Wednesday’s general elections included the seventh presidential elections, at the same time as the seventh legislative elections and the fourth elections for provincial assemblies and governors. In addition to Venâncio Mondlane, Lutero Simango, supported by the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM, the third largest parliamentary force), Daniel Chapo, with the support of the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, in power since 1975), and Ossufo Momade, with the support of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the largest opposition party), ran for the presidency.
