Peaceful and orderly voting in a context of public mistrust and tainted credibility of the electoral process

PRESS RELEASE

Peaceful and orderly voting in a context of public mistrust and tainted credibility of the electoral process

Maputo, 11 October 2024 - The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) in Mozambique 2024 presented today, at a press conference in Maputo, a preliminary assessment on the observation of the 9 October elections.

In total, the EU EOM deployed 179 observers from 24 EU Member States, and from Canada, Norway and Switzerland across the country. Overall, on election day EU observers visited 729 polling stations in all provinces and 78 districts across the country.

"The electoral management bodies conducted the voting in an orderly manner", explained Ms. Laura Ballarín, Chief Observer of the EU EOM, during the press conference. "People voted calmly, and procedures were mostly followed during voting and during the campaign fundamental freedoms were generally respected",she added.

The EU preliminary report stated that, overall, the electoral campaign was conducted peacefully, but EU observers and interlocutors reported an evident tilting in the playing field in favour of the ruling party during the campaign with Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) benefiting from the advantages of incumbency through the misuse of state resources. Freedomof expression was generally respected throughout the campaign period, however news coverage by both national radio and TV was biased in favour of ruling party and Daniel Chapo.

Ms. Laura Ballarín underlined as well that: "There was a notable lack of confidence in the reliability of the electoral register and on the independence of the electoral bodies. In addition, our observers reported a slow counting process which suffered from disorganisation and lack of clarity".

The EU EOM report stated that most opposition political parties expressed lack of confidence in the impartiality and independence of the CNE and the STAE, and parties expressed mistrust in other public institutions, including the Constitutional Council (CC). The CNE's lack of public communication strategy and outreach contributed to this mistrust.

Mr. Antonio López Istúriz White, Head of the European Parliament Delegation, which observed the polls as part of the EU EOM, declared: "We are not here to legitimise the elections, but to impartially observe them". He added: "We are therefore looking forward to the recommendations that the EU EOM will propose for the improvement of the electoral process and committed to returning to Mozambique to assess whether - and to what extent -, they will be implemented".

Following the invitation of Mozambican authorities, the EU EOM has been present in Mozambique since 1 September. The EU mission will stay in the country to observe the remainder of the electoral process and within the next few weeks will present a public final report containing recommendations on possible reforms for future electoral processes in the country.

For further information, contact:

Alessandro Gori - Press Officer - MOE UE Moçambique 2024

Mobile: (+258) 86 668 9688 - email: [email protected]

Facebook, Instagram, X: @moeueMozambique https://www.moeuemozambique2024.eu https://database.eueom.eu

EU EOM Preliminary Statement in Portuguese:

EU EOM Preliminary Statement in English:

EU EOM Press release in Portuguese:

EU EOM Press release in English:

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.