The Mozambican Association of Judges (AMJ) on Tuesday asked the political parties to send at least one delegate to each polling station to prevent possible fraud in the general elections on 9 October.
‘We will have situations in which some political parties won’t have candidate delegates at the polling stations and those who don’t have delegates will be suspicious of those who were there,’ declared the first vice-president of the AMJ, Jafete Fremo, during the opening of a round table to reflect on the new electoral reform for the general elections on 9 October, which is taking place in Maputo.
Speaking to journalists, Fremo said that Mozambique has ‘legal security’ to ensure that elections are held. He said that the judges are prepared to respond to any electoral offences, but he asked the parties for representation at the polling stations through candidate delegates.
‘If we have candidate delegates at all the polling stations who witness the electoral process after the results have been counted and handed over to the Polling Station Managers (MMV), they will go out to their political parties to do the parallel count and find out if they won or lost the elections, it’s that simple,’ explained Jafete Fremo.
The leader also criticised the constant revisions and changes to the country’s electoral legislation, warning of the political parties’ poor grasp of the content.
‘If we were to organise the local and general elections at the same time, we wouldn’t have these problems, but that’s the model we’ve chosen and we have to accept it. And it could be done because this process entails costs,’ he said.
At the same event, the Mozambican Bar Association (OAM) argued in favour of changing and debating the electoral package with at least five years to go to ensure ‘legal certainty’ for the elections and allow for the creation of a ‘deeper’ legal framework.
‘This requires all those involved to be proactive. They need to take the initiative in the intervals between elections to set in motion legislative changes, in such a way that the elections are contested within a framework that is previously known, solid and debated in due depth,’ argued Arlindo Guilamba, vice-president of OAM’s National Council.
Mozambique is holding its seventh presidential elections on 9 October, in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the constitutional limit of two terms, is no longer running, at the same time as the seventh legislative elections and the fourth for provincial assemblies and governors.
More than 17 million voters are registered to vote, including 333,839 registered abroad, according to CNE data.
Running for president are Daniel Chapo, backed by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), Ossufo Momade, backed by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the largest opposition party, Lutero Simango, backed by the MDM, the third most represented party in parliament, and Venâncio Mondlane, a former Renamo member and MP, backed by Podemos, a movement with no parliamentary representation.
