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By Joseph Hanlon
Renamo fumbles the ball again, but real problems remain
Local elections last year highlighted a series of issues that could and should have been resolved by parliament before national elections this year:
• Polling station officials spoiling ballots for Renamo
• Ballot papers brought in from outside the polling station
• Overly complex complaints procedures which make it impossible to object to a violation if the polling station president refuses to accept the protest.
• Police too close to polling stations.
• Senior Frelimo party officials serving as “independent” observers.
But attempts to solve these real problems have failed due to a mix of political manoeuvres by Frelimo, which has no real interest in change, and incompetence by Renamo, where thinking has not moved on in a decade.
Renamo remains genuinely convinced about two key strategies. The first is the power of the veto – if it refuses to permit discussion or action, it can force key concessions. This was highly effective in the post-war period, when it was essential to keep Renamo on board. But it now leads to Renamo being bypassed and gaining nothing. Renamo prevented an ad hoc parliamentary committee from discussing election law changes in 2005, but instead of gaining the concessions in wanted on the CNE, the process was abandoned, and new laws pushed through by the Frelimo majority in parliament.
The second strategy is based on the belief that the best way to catch Frelimo tricks is to have more Renamo people watching, and acting specifically in the interests of their party. This led to the politicisation of the electoral institutions for the 2003 and 2004 elections, which proved unsuccessful and was widely criticised by observers. Elections are now run by more non-partisan structures.
Renamo’s proposals this year called for a new ad hoc parliamentary commission to consider election laws and a return to the politicised election structures of the past. Both had already been shown to be failures, and Renamo’s proposals won no support from civil society, election experts, or more open people within Frelimo. This made it easy for Frelimo in parliament to marginalise the proposals and delay discussion until it was too late – supported by Renamo which showed no interest in pushing the few changes from which might really have benefitted.
This was emphasized by Renamo pushing hard, right up to the final votes, a proposal to allow six Renamo party delegates and alternates into each polling station for elections this year. Renamo already has trouble finding a pair of qualified people for each polling station, and would surely have difficulties finding six. A much more realistic view was taken at the Renamo Congress in Nampula earlier this week (20-21 July), which stressed the need to improve the training of the delegates to avoid fraud.
Renamo’s election and registration monitoring has improved considerably. In 2004 and 2008 elections, many of its reports of misconduct were clear, detailed and accurate. As our main article shows, it has also correctly identified areas where registration is not being carried out. And it has highlighted a series of genuine problems around polling stations, which need discussion and resolution. But it then threw away any chance to resolve these problems by wrapping its proposals in bombast and pressing for vetos and politicisation of the electoral system which are not acceptable to anyone. Yet again, Renamo has failed to act in its own best interest. But the concrete problems remain; perhaps after this year’s election, civil society should look more closely at ways to improve the electoral law, and then lobby parliament for useful changes.
Joseph Hanlon
By Joseph Hanlon
Renamo fumbles the ball again, but real problems remain
Local elections last year highlighted a series of issues that could and should have been resolved by parliament before national elections this year:
• Polling station officials spoiling ballots for Renamo
• Ballot papers brought in from outside the polling station
• Overly complex complaints procedures which make it impossible to object to a violation if the polling station president refuses to accept the protest.
• Police too close to polling stations.
• Senior Frelimo party officials serving as “independent” observers.
But attempts to solve these real problems have failed due to a mix of political manoeuvres by Frelimo, which has no real interest in change, and incompetence by Renamo, where thinking has not moved on in a decade.
Renamo remains genuinely convinced about two key strategies. The first is the power of the veto – if it refuses to permit discussion or action, it can force key concessions. This was highly effective in the post-war period, when it was essential to keep Renamo on board. But it now leads to Renamo being bypassed and gaining nothing. Renamo prevented an ad hoc parliamentary committee from discussing election law changes in 2005, but instead of gaining the concessions in wanted on the CNE, the process was abandoned, and new laws pushed through by the Frelimo majority in parliament.
The second strategy is based on the belief that the best way to catch Frelimo tricks is to have more Renamo people watching, and acting specifically in the interests of their party. This led to the politicisation of the electoral institutions for the 2003 and 2004 elections, which proved unsuccessful and was widely criticised by observers. Elections are now run by more non-partisan structures.
Renamo’s proposals this year called for a new ad hoc parliamentary commission to consider election laws and a return to the politicised election structures of the past. Both had already been shown to be failures, and Renamo’s proposals won no support from civil society, election experts, or more open people within Frelimo. This made it easy for Frelimo in parliament to marginalise the proposals and delay discussion until it was too late – supported by Renamo which showed no interest in pushing the few changes from which might really have benefitted.
This was emphasized by Renamo pushing hard, right up to the final votes, a proposal to allow six Renamo party delegates and alternates into each polling station for elections this year. Renamo already has trouble finding a pair of qualified people for each polling station, and would surely have difficulties finding six. A much more realistic view was taken at the Renamo Congress in Nampula earlier this week (20-21 July), which stressed the need to improve the training of the delegates to avoid fraud.
Renamo’s election and registration monitoring has improved considerably. In 2004 and 2008 elections, many of its reports of misconduct were clear, detailed and accurate. As our main article shows, it has also correctly identified areas where registration is not being carried out. And it has highlighted a series of genuine problems around polling stations, which need discussion and resolution. But it then threw away any chance to resolve these problems by wrapping its proposals in bombast and pressing for vetos and politicisation of the electoral system which are not acceptable to anyone. Yet again, Renamo has failed to act in its own best interest. But the concrete problems remain; perhaps after this year’s election, civil society should look more closely at ways to improve the electoral law, and then lobby parliament for useful changes.
Joseph Hanlon
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