OWN CORRESPONDENT, Maputo | Thursday 9.00PM.
MOZAMBICAN opposition parties’ calls for the cancellation of the country’s first-ever local elections were anulled on Thursday when the Mozambique Supreme Court proclaimed the elections to be valid.
The court admitted in a statement that there were some irregularities on the June 30 polling day, but said they were not serious enough to invalidate the ballot.
The polls, which were boycotted by the majority of opposition parties because of fraud allegations, were also hampered by poor organisation on the part of the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat, resulting in polling stations opening late.
The court countered the opposition argument that the turn-out was too low to force a result, and said that the electoral law does not state how many people have to vote in order to validate the elections.
Only about 15% of the electorate of two million people cast their votes.