Observers Criticise CNE

Maputo — Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) has done "little or nothing" to investigate the malpractice that occurred during the 28 October general elections, accuses the Electoral Observatory (OE), the largest and most credible group of Mozambican election observers.

The Observatory is a coalition of the three main religious organisations in the country (the Catholic Church, the Christian Council of Mozambique and the Islamic Council) and several NGOs, including the Human Rights League (LDH), and the Mozambican Association for the Development of Democracy (AMODE).

On the day of the elections, the OE had 1,662 observers on the ground. 998 of them stayed at the same polling station throughout the day, 664 were mobile, and there were 100 district supervisors. This coverage of the election was far greater than any other organisation, and it allowed the OE to undertake an extremely accurate parallel count.

A detailed report issued by the OE is highly critical of the CNE for failing to deal with serious irregularities, including incidents of ballot box stuffing and the deliberate invalidation of votes cast for opposition candidates.

The report says that although this malpractice did not change the results, the country's judicial system should take action against "all the authors of electoral irregularities that have assaulted the transparency that should characterize the entire electoral process".

The OE points to the impossibly high turnout reported in parts of Tete province, notably in the districts of Changara, Chifunde, Tsangano and Zumbo. Its observers found cases of polling stations where 100 per cent or more than 100 per cent of the registered voters allegedly cast votes - in an election where the average national turnout was just 44 per cent.

Thus at polling station 0415 in Chifunde, there were 999 names on the register, but a conveniently round 1,000 ballot papers were found in the ballot box. At polling station 0392 in Changara, there were only 195 names on the register - but 201 people (104 per cent) allegedly voted.

In Tsangano, at polling station 4253, there were 547 people registered. The results sheet, the OE found, claimed that all 547 had cast ballots. In Zumbo, at polling station 0910, there were 198 names on the register, and 199 votes in the ballot box.

The OE notes that the population is mobile and that between the start of registration in September 2007 and the election date, inevitably some voters have died.

Yet, if we are to believe the Tete figures, in these districts nobody dies and nobody moves away. This is not a matter of just a few rogue polling stations. AIM went to the trouble of checking, in the electoral data base, every one of the 71 Changara results sheets that the CNE accepted. Not one of them is credible.

For limitations of space and time, the OE report only mentioned Tete, but an OE official told AIM he was well aware that the same thing had happened in several other districts, notably in Gaza province, and would be included in the OE's final report.

The report notes that a "very large" number of votes were invalidated, "with indications that this was intentional, with the intention of damaging particular candidates. Everything indicates that this was done by people well placed in supervising the ballot boxes".

This is one crime which the CNE has publicly admitted. When announcing the results on 11 November, CNE chairperson Joao Leopoldo da Costa mentioned the way in which valid votes suddenly became invalid when an ink mark was added to them to make it look as if the voters concerned had tried to vote for two candidates.

The OE confirmed complaints by opposition parties that returning officers at the polling stations had refused to accept protests from political party monitors (although they were warned, in the polling station manual itself, that failure to take written note of monitors' protests is a criminal offence).

Arrogance by polling station staff extended to observers. The OE report notes that one of its observers was expelled from a polling station at Massanga, in Changara district.

Yet despite the reports of irregularities from many sources, the CNE showed little interest in investigating. "It would be useful to clarify insufficiencies or irregularities in good time, so that acceptance of the fairness of electoral results ceases to be a problem", the Observatory pointed out.

The report says that while the behaviour of the police during the election campaign was mostly positive, there were cases where the police displayed a double standard, arresting members of opposition parties caught committing crimes, but treating members of Frelimo leniently.

Thus in Muanza district, Sofala province, on 7 October, two supporters of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) beat up a Frelimo supporter who objected to them sticking an MDM poster on a lamppost in front of his yard. The assailants were promptly detained and thrown into prison for a week.

But in Chibuto, in Gaza province, on 24 September, when Frelimo supporters attacked MDM sympathizers, and broke the windows and slashed the tyres of their vehicles, there were no arrests. The OE said the police merely allowed the MDM supporters to seek refuge in the district police command.

There were also cases of the police hindering observation. At polling station 0697, in Machaze district, Manica province, an OE observer was beaten and expelled by the police.

The OE also deplored the way in which the CNE had interpreted the electoral legislation so as to exclude parties, in whole or in part, from the elections. The most serious problem was with the MDM, whose lists of parliamentary candidates were rejected in nine of the 13 constituencies.

The OE said the CNE's behaviour "damaged instead of favouring citizens", suggesting that, in cases of ambiguous legislation, the parties should have been given the benefit of the doubt.

In future, the report advised, the CNE "should prioritise dialogue and transparency in the administration of the elections".

The OE criticized the parties themselves for failing to organise their documents properly - which means that they were "powerless to react against the decisions to reject or exclude them taken by the CNE".

The OE's parallel count, from 998 polling stations, proved a valuable check on the official results. There was no significant distortion of the figures between the polling stations and the CNE, since the results as announced by Costa were very close to the OE's count.

The OE put the vote for incumbent president Armando Guebuza at 74.59 per cent. The final result announced by the CNE was 75 per cent. The OE gave Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama 17.01 per cent, and MDM leader Davis Simango 8.4 per cent. The CNE's figures were 16.41 and 8.59 per cent respectively.

Source: Allafrica