Constitutional Council calls for greater electoral transparency

Mozambique's supreme law-making body has called for the inclusion of local and international observer missions at all stages of the vote tally, ensuring greater transparency in future elections. Although the Constitutional Council (CC) last Thursday validated the results of the December 2004 general elections, which the ruling FRELIMO party won by a landslide, it reportedly said it had followed the debate on observers' access to vote tabulation "with concern". In the weeks prior to the declaration of results, a controversy erupted between monitors and the National Electoral Commission (CNE) over access to the final stages of the vote count, during which contested ballots could be reconsidered. Election observers warned that the results of entire polling stations could be rejected by the CNE if they were deemed irregular. The CNE countered that the decision to exclude monitors from certain stages of the tally was based on the country's electoral laws. The CC ruling is expected to clarify the role of election observers in future polls. "Finally, the country's electoral laws regarding observer missions will not be left up to interpretation, but instead there will be clear legislation detailing the rights of monitoring groups. This will go a long way to ensuring the credibility of future elections," a programme officer of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, Martinho Chachiua, told IRIN. Chachiua noted that although international observers had praised the way Mozambique's presidential and parliamentary elections were conducted, complaints raised by the main opposition party, RENAMO, were "of great concern". RENAMO protested that the results sheets from almost 1,400 polling stations - about five percent of the total - were not included in the final results. The opposition also alleged that fraud took place, particularly in the western province of Tete, where high turnouts (sometimes in excess of 100 percent) were reported. "It is hoped that the council's call for greater transparency will lead to the enactment of legislation, which will depoliticise the electoral process and give observers full access to the tabulation of results," Chachiua said. In a related development, RENAMO withdrew its post-election boycott threats, despite their rejection of the election results. RENAMO spokesman Fernando Mazanga confirmed on Monday that the 90 newly elected opposition lawmakers would take their seats in the 250-seat parliament. "We will continue to say that fraud occurred during the election, but we believe that Mozambique's parliament is for everyone - not just for FRELIMO - so we decided that we will participate in the institution, for the betterment of the Mozambican people," Mazanga told IRIN. The CC dismissed the RENAMO party's demands for a rerun of the December election, saying the case was lodged too late. FRELIMO recorded an emphatic victory, bagging nine of the country's 11 provinces in the December poll. FRELIMO's presidential candidate, Armando Guebuza, also beat RENAMO leader Afonso Dhlakama for the top post, garnering 63.7 percent of the vote.