by Bayano Valy – SANF 04 no 110
The 1-2 December Mozambican general elections have been applauded by both regional and international observers.
Both the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum and the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) said in preliminary statements that the conduct of elections had been “very good”, that is, the voting days and counting within the polling stations.
By law, Mozambican election results are announced two weeks after the last vote has been cast. But preliminary results give a huge lead to the ruling Frelimo party and its presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, with early projections suggesting that they may scoop 60 percent of the total vote.
The SADC PF preliminary assessment of the elections was that “the third multi-party elections in Mozambique were conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.”
Crucially, the elections had been “in compliance with most of the regional norms and guidelines.”
This is almost the conclusion arrived at by EISA. Brigalia Bam, head of mission and chairperson of South Africa’s Electoral Commission, told journalists that the EISA Observer Mission “is largely satisfied that the process of voting and counting so far meets the standards enshrined in the Principles for Election Management, Monitoring and Observation in the SADC region.”
EISA’s election observers are drawn from various electoral stakeholders, including representatives of electoral commissions, civil society organisations, parliaments, academic institutions and political parties.
EISA is not bound by SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections approved by heads of state and government in August. EISA’s benchmarks do not deviate a lot from the region’s own guidelines.
Both the SADC PF and EISA praised the competence of polling staff and noted that the principles of gender balance had been enforced, with many women as polling station presidents.
The free and fair conduct of elections was a view that was subscribed to by the international observers as well.
The Carter Centre Observer Mission as well as the European Union Election Observation Mission praised the conduct of the two-day poll.
Former US President Jimmy Carter lauded the election staff for “meticulous compliance with the laws and regulations.”
At the polling stations, the Carter Centre observers had liked the way the election staff discharged their duty – explaining to voters what to do, counting the votes, sealing and guarding the ballot boxes overnight.
The European Union Election Observation Mission said that “the election administration was able to organise the elections in what were sometimes challenging logistical circumstances.”
The mission was apparently referring to the level of difficulty the electoral staff encountered when ferrying ballot boxes and election material to the polling stations. Because of the rains that fell in most parts of Mozambique, in some cases the boxes had to be transported by donkeys, canoes or carried on shoulders and heads.
The EU praised the “commitment of the well-trained polling station staff often under difficult circumstances.”
Both the Carter Centre and the EU Electoral Observation Mission warned that the observation would not be considered complete unless all observers had access to all stages of vote tabulation. The CNE says that the Electoral Law forbids access to vote tabulation.
However, observer groups argue that the law is silent on the issue. The CNE allowed observers and journalists to access the vote tabulation through windows, and computers linked to the nerve centre.
Javier Pomes, head of the EU observation mission, said that he “expected access to all actions organised by the CNE.”
He thought that full access was very important “in order to make an assessment, positive or negative of the election as a whole.”
The observers’ insistence stems from the fact that in 1999 many results sheets were rejected as containing irregularities, leading to the opposition crying foul. So it would seem the observers want to dispel any doubts that the process had not been manipulated.
Afonso Dhlakama, the leader of the former rebel movement Renamo, told Radio Mozambique that the elections had been free and fair on the first day, but he could not say they had been on the second day.
Local monitors have agreed that the poll was free, fair and transparent. Mozambican Forum for Election Observation (FOMOE) told journalists that the conduct of the elections was free and fair, although there were some irregularities that did not mar the process.
The only concern FOMOE had was the lengthy vote counting process. “We feel that the process is very slow,” the Forum said.
One thing which marred the elections was the very low voter turn out put at between 35 to 40 percent. This was mostly blamed on the heavy rains in the north of the country.
The SADC PF suggested the scheduling of elections during the dry season in order to avert the “inevitable problems associated with the rainy season.” (SARDC)
