Mozambique’s Constitutional Council justices on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the main opposition Renamo party to annul the 11 October municipal elections in the northern city of Nampula over claims of irregularities in the process.
The panel of justices argued that Renamo had not presented sufficient evidence to warrant the invalidation of the election despite finding “some irregularities.”
“The claim to declare null and void the election held in the Municipality of Nampula does not flourish, due to the lack of incontrovertible evidence that confirms, on the one hand, the occurrence of electoral irregularities that call into question the freedom, transparency and electoral truth of the respective process, and, on the other hand, the verification of illegalities such that they may substantially influence the general result of the election”, reads the Constitutional Council decision.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Council, which doubles up as an electoral court during elections, concurred with a decision by a lower court ordering the Nampula city district election commission to correct data in some polling stations and validate the original results sheets (editais) in two polling stations.
Comment
The Constitutional Council dismissal may mean that the body is not immune to politicking. The olive branch offering to Renamo does not address the issue of the gross irregularities in the process of tabulation.
Indeed, parallel count by civil society organisations with decades of experience show that Renamo won Nampula, but Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) staff tampered with the results sheets, giving Renamo votes to the ruling Frelimo party – the last time Frelimo won in Nampula was in 2009 and has faced counting problems at each election cycle to wrest the city away from the opposition.
The difficulties have been affecting Frelimo’s internal unity in the city and province. The indication of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, member of the Political Commission, head of the Nampula central brigade, and campaign director, Celso Correia, showed Frelimo’s desperation, which needed to win back Nampula province and city for the following reasons:
- justify the party’s mobilisation capacity and popularity in the country’s largest constituency ahead of the 2024 general elections;
- annoint Celso Correia as President Filipe Nyusi’s successor, guaranteeing the latter the impunity he desperately seeks in the future in light chiefly of the hidden debts scandal.
Thus, the dismissal may also mean that Frelimo has pondered giving back Quelimane as that prospect looks likelier and keep Nampula as a way out of the political scandal and democratic backsliding never seen before in Mozambique.
It remains to be seen whether Renamo will accept anything but a win in Nampula.
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