Low turnout in local elections

Mozambique's generally peaceful and problem-free local elections have been marked by low voter turnout, observers say. In many places less than 15 percent of registered voters bothered to cast their ballots on Wednesday, mirroring the turnout in Mozambique's last local elections in 1998, which were boycotted by the main opposition party RENAMO. The Mozambique Political Process Bulletin (MPPB) said "initial reports indicate quite a low turnout in most places" with queues "at just a few polling stations". The MPPB, formerly known as the Mozambique Peace Process Bulletin, is published by the the European Parliamentarians for Southern Africa. Electoral Institute of Southern Africa programme officer, Martinho Chachiua, told IRIN that while "we don't know what the figures are yet, I had expected more [voter turnout]" on the 19 November polling day. He cautioned, however, that "local elections usually have lower turnouts than general elections". "We thought that there would be a good turnout - at this point it is unclear as to what the reasons for [lower than expected turnout] might be," he said. Counting continues at polling stations and intermediate results are expected by Saturday. Officials have until 4 December to produce the final results.