Mozambique’s Supreme Court (TS) said on Thursday that the ‘high number’ of electoral litigation appeals without the proper prior challenge and in an untimely manner reveals ‘ignorance’ of the legislation by political groupings.
‘The high number of contentious appeals lodged without a prior challenge, in an untimely manner and without evidence, shows that there is a certain ignorance and lack of legal knowledge among political actors regarding the procedures to be followed,’ said Pedro Nhatitima, the Supreme Court spokesman.
At a press conference to present data on political party appeals and data on electoral offenses, the TS spokesman argued that ‘it was no longer supposed to be the case’ that there were high statistics of electoral litigation without the presentation of the elements previously required by law.
‘These procedures were supposed to be the domain of the political actors (…). For future elections, we believe that the political actors should take ownership of the legal framework regulating the electoral process to avoid the failure of electoral litigation appeals from the outset,’ Nhatitima appealed.
At the same press conference, the Supreme Court asked political organisations to ‘respect the rules of the democratic game’, pointing out that ‘electoral disputes’ are resolved by legal institutions.
‘Let’s have faith, let’s believe in the process, it’s not over yet. All the irregularities mentioned by various political actors will be decided on as part of the process of validation by the Constitutional Council,’ concluded Pedro Nhatitima.
Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has called for a week-long general strike in Mozambique, demonstrations at the National Electoral Commission (CNE) district offices, and marches to Maputo on 7 November.
On 24 October, Mozambique’s CNE announced the victory of Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for President of the Republic on 09 October, with 70.67 % of the vote.
Venâncio Mondlane, supported by Podemos (a non-parliamentary party), came second with 20.32% but said he did not recognise these results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.
Frelimo also strengthened its parliamentary majority, from 184 to 195 seats (out of 250), and elected all ten of the country’s provincial governors.
In addition to Mondlane, the president of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, currently the largest opposition party), Ossufo Momade, one of the four presidential candidates, said he did not recognise the results and called for the vote to be annulled. Presidential candidate Lutero Simango, supported by the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), also rejected the results, considering that they had been ‘forged in the secretariat’, and promised ‘political and legal action’ to restore the ‘will of the people’.
The demonstrations called by Mondlane for 21, 24 and 25 October degenerated into clashes with the police, resulting in at least ten deaths, dozens of injuries and 500 detainees, according to the Centre for Public Integrity. This Mozambican non-governmental organisation monitors electoral processes.
Lusa
