Election disputes mar poll

For the first time in Mozambique's history, the ruling Frelimo government will probably have to contend with some local councils controlled by the opposition. Although official results of the 19 November local elections are not due until 4 December, the opposition Renamo Electoral Union (a coalition of 10 parties with the main opposition party, Renamo) are expected to win control of 4 of the 33 municipalities. Renamo had boycotted the country's first local elections in 1998, alleging that Frelimo was bent on fraud, which left the ruling party in control of all the municipalities. Whichever municipalities Renamo wins, controlling them will be a test for the party. Since the 1992 peace accord which ended 16 years of civil war, the former rebel group has had to rid itself of an image of brutality earned from the start of the conflict, when it was created by the white minority regime in the then Rhodesia, and after 1980 supported by the apartheid regime in neighbouring South Africa. Winning control of any municipalities is a significant step for Renamo. "Decentralisation is serious in Mozambique," Joseph Hanlon, author and expert on Mozambique told IRIN. "These local councils are potentially very powerful bodies, although they are still learning to use that power." For example, the councils can set up contracts with donors and companies. So far the National Elections Commission (CNE) has released provisional results showing that Renamo has control of Nacala, a major port city in the northern province of Nampula, and Angoche, also in Nampula. The other two municipalities expected to be won by Renamo are Mozambique Island in the north, and Beira, Mozambique's second city in the central province of Sofala. However, Frelimo has not yet accepted the result from Mozambique Island, alleging that there was "ballot stuffing". The Beira result – not yet officially announced - has been the most controversial. A report from the Mozambique news agency, AIM, said: "More than anywhere else in the country, the provisional count in Beira has suffered from the chronic distrust between the two major political forces: the ruling Frelimo party, and the opposition Renamo-Electoral Union coalition." The first incident in Beira, Mozambique's second largest port, was when a Renamo representative in the local branch of the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) delayed counting, objecting to the procedure of faxing the polling results to the capital, Maputo, although this plan had been approved by the CNE. A Renamo official refused to unlock the warehouse where the ballots were being stored for the whole day. The count only started on Friday, but came to a stop again on Saturday morning, when Renamo said it caught a STAE official changing results sheets in favour of the ruling Frelimo candidate. The alteration was done on the result sheets of individual polling stations, which were being faxed to Maputo for tabulation. The alleged fraud was easily spotted because the number written out in words was not changed. AIM had earlier reported that "all the information reaching AIM indicates that the Renamo candidate for mayor of Beira, Davis Simango, won with over 55 per cent of the vote." Beira, compared to the capital, has not seen much development. It is up against major obstacles, including one of the country's highest HIV/AIDS rates at over 15 percent and the virtual economic collapse of the Beira Corridor, the transport route linking the port to landlocked neighbouring Zimbabwe. It will be a major challenge for the government, now in power for 18 years, to deal with Renamo-controlled local governments, especially in major cities such as Beira. Likewise, Renamo will not easily accept the result if they do not control more municipalities in central and northern regions, believed to be their strongholds. "All of us assumed that Renamo would do much better than they did," said Hanlon. At a press conference on Tuesday, Renamo spokesman Samo Gudo declared that "grave irregularities" had taken place, prejudicing Renamo's performance in many municipalities including Chimoio, Quelimane and Catandica in the centre of the country. However, the European Observer Mission last week endorsed the poll as "absolutely free". Hanlon told IRIN that overall he felt that voting, which was monitored by 100 foreign observers and 500 domestic ones, went "smoothly" and was "transparent". He said staff at the polling stations - often schools with no electricity - were "well trained", and each station had at least one person who spoke the local language. Hanlon commented that voter turnout was better than originally expected. The Mozambique Political Process Bulletin, produced by the organisation, European Parliamentarians for Africa, said the turnout ranged from around 15 percent in some areas to 45 percent, averaging 30 percent overall, which was double the turnout of the first local election, but short of the 75 percent in the last general election. The 1999 general elections were a relatively close battle, with Frelimo winning 133 seats to Renamo's 117. However, Hanlon warned about jumping to conclusions about next year's general elections based on the results of this month's local polls. He noted that the municipal elections were urban-based, while "Renamo's support is largely rural".