Shortly before the close of voting stations, the chairperson of Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE), Arão Litsure, expressed concern over the low voter turnout in the country’s presidential and general elections that took place this week.
In the north of the country, heavy rain prevented polling from opening on Wednesday.
”We note with concern the low turnout at the polls. A few hours before the close of polling we must remind voters that voting is a civic duty,” he said.
The elections were marked by controversy over observers’ access to the final stages of the count.
A close result could necessitate a run-off between the two leading candidates: Armando Guebuza, businessman and secretary general of Frelimo, the ruling party since independence in 1975, and Afonso Dhlakama, veteran leader of the former rebel movement, Renamo.
President Joaquim Chissano, who has led Mozambique since the death of Samora Machel in 1986, is standing down in accordance with a two-term limit demanded by the 1994 Constitution.
During the past month, observers from the European Union, the Carter Center and the Electoral Observatory — a Mozambican civil society coalition — have been trying to persuade the CNE to permit greater observer access during the final stages of the vote tabulation process, where the Frelimo-dominated CNE has the power to reject the results from entire polling stations. This week, Litsure reiterated that the final stages of the tabulation process would not be open to scrutiny, although public notice would be given of any changes made.
”Observation must be integral,” said LuÃÂs de Brito of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (Eisa). ”It makes no sense to allow observation at one stage and not at another.”
The CNE may reject the results sheets from a polling station if, for example, faulty arithmetic has led to a discrepancy between the numbers of votes recorded and the number of voters crossed off the roll. The CNE also scrutinises any ambiguously marked voting papers submitted for arbitration by vote counters at the polling stations, and in such cases the CNE has the final say over what the voter’s intentions were.
”Most important is that the CNE, when verification happens, posts the results of all decisions made,” Eduardo Sitoe, chairperson of the Electoral Observatory, told the Mail & Guardian.
Asked whether the current guidelines guarantee sufficient access to information about the CNE’s decisions, Sitoe replied: ”I have no basis on which to answer that question. We don’t want to work in bad faith, but we need them to create access in order to prove this.”
Predictions of a close finish have given an added urgency to the need for a credible result. ”If the difference between the parties is small, and there are a large number of disputed results sheets or questionable votes, then the final decision will rest with the CNE,” Sitoe warned.
People going to the polls in Frelimo’s traditional southern stronghold seemed divided between ruling party faithfuls and people who were hesitant about expressing an opinion.
At the Junto minibus taxi rank on the edge of Maputo, a Frelimo activist who gave his name as Izidro said he traveled 200km to Chongoene where he was registered ”because if I don’t vote I can only blame myself if the wrong man wins”.
Civil servant António Silva was not revealing his choice as he shared a post-poll beer with friends in Maputo’s Jardim township, but hinted he was voting for the opposition: ”Mozambique is infected by a virus. People are not voting with their conscience — they are voting to perpetuate the poverty they are in.”
Maputo street vendor Rosita Martins had pictures of Dhlakama on her stall, but seemed uncertain whether she would vote. ”Politics? When the buffalo fight, it’s the grass that gets trampled. I lost my husband in the war, and have to support five children.”
According to Eisa’s De Brito: ”The forces are balanced, and new dynamics make the outcome undeterminable.”
Among the factors that could contribute to a neck-and-neck finish between Frelimo and Renamo, De Brito said, was that Guebuza’s status as an electoral newcomer could cost him recognition among illiterate voters. He also pointed out that the gap between the two main parties has gradually been closing since the first general election 10 years ago, as ongoing unemployment breeds disillusionment with Frelimo, even in the south.
In Beira, Mozambique’s second city, the crowd that turned out for a Renamo rally this weekend was reportedly large enough to keep Dhlakama’s motorcade trapped for four hours.
Renamo eventually called in the police, who fired teargas to clear a path for the Renamo leader.
Failure by either of the main parties to attract 50% of the vote could lead to a presidential run-off, and a hung Parliament with the new Peace, Democracy and Development (PDD) party holding the balance of power.
l In Matola, near Maputo, a fire destroyed the offices of Renamo, according to local news agency AIM, early on Monday morning. The director of the Renamo Maputo provincial election office, Samuel Mandlate, said that during the night arsonists had broke down one of the doors to the offices, poured kerosene on all materials, documents, and furniture, and set the place on fire.