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Observers find Mozambique electoral process
"satisfactory" The Southern African
Development Community (SADC) has two official observer teams monitoring the
elections - the SADC Parliamentary Forum representing legislators from the
region has 11 Members of Parliament in Mozambique from various countries and
a smaller team from the SADC Electoral Commissions Forum, representing
national electoral commissions. There are a number of
other regional observer teams, and the well-known Carter Center of Atlanta
U.S. observer mission here is co-chaired by former Botswana President Quett
Masire and ex-U.S. President Jimmy Carter. It has 50 observers from 16
countries, many of whom have been in the country since early November. Masire
and Carter arrived yesterday (Wednesday) and issued an assessment of the
campaign and electoral process up to the voting saying it was
"satisfactory to date." International observer
missions from the Commonwealth, the European Union, the National Democratic
Institute, AWEPA (European Parliamentarians for Africa), the United Nations
and many others are also here. National observers are in each of the
country's 10 provinces and capital region, bringing the total of observers to
more than 600, far fewer than the 2,300 who officially observed the 1994
vote. Carter and Masire held a
press scrum in the courtyard behind the CNE (National Elections Commission)
this morning, amid tight security. They seemed generally pleased with the
electoral process and Carter praised Mozambique "as an inspiration and
example to many other countries in its commitment to democracy, freedom and
human rights, especially when you consider it is less than 10 years since it
emerged from a violent past." The SADC Parliamentary
Forum will send its members to five regions of the country who will observe
the election process and meet at the forum's headquarters in Windhoek after
the election results to prepare a report for the full 36-member forum. This forum does not
comment to Mozambican officials or the press until a full report has been
approved, explained Dr. Kasuka Mutukwa, the secretary-general. "The forum is four
years old but only established its secretariat in August. We are not here to
critique the electoral process for the media or the election commission but
to report to our forum," Mutukwa, a former Zambian MP, diplomat and political
scientist. The forum has three main
goals: -to promote inter-parliamentary co-operation; -to accelerate regional
integration by changing national laws to make them more compatible, including
electoral laws; -the promotion of a democratic culture, including gender
equity. "Election observation
is at the heart of the democratic process. By bringing 22 MPs here and to
Namibia (which held elections 1-2 December) we get involved in regional
processes. Our MPs come from ruling parties and opposition parties,"
Mutukwa said. The forum has membership
from 12 SADC countries (Congo DRC and Seychelles are not yet members)
including the Speakers of each Parliament plus three MPs. "This is the nucleus
of a regional assembly," the secretary-general said. Mutukwa also emphasized
that the forum's mission was different from most and did not overlap with the
electoral commission's forum. "The job of MPs is
make laws, the job of electoral commissions is to enforce those laws. We fill
the gap between the international and the national observer missions, all of
whom have equally important, but different, functions." Mr. Justice Lewis Makane,
chair of the National Election Commission of Tanzania, is leading the SADC
Electoral Commissions Forum team of nine observers who will be deployed with
the Carter Center team to cover the entire country. It will issue its first
report on the election in Maputo after the voting ends Saturday. This forum,
of which Makane is chairperson, is vitally concerned with all aspects of the
electoral process and has held several closed-door meetings with the CNE. "We do not have the
resources to observe the entire country and since our goals are similar to
the Carter Center's, albeit in a regional context and with regional emphasis,
it makes sense for us to team up with them for logistical purposes," he
said. The Carter Center's
assessment is the second since the campaign began. Its major concern was what
is called the "manipulative and partisan coverage of the election by the
media. Instead of playing a constructive and educational role. Certain media
have worsened voters' concerns about conflict between parties and lack of
transparency." The criticism named two
publicly-owned papers, the daily "Noticias" and the weekly
"Domingo" as being "guilty of excessive partisan
alignment" towards the ruling party, Frelimo, was somewhat muted by
Carter who said "the media was no worse than the media anywhere."
The assessment praised the state-owned Radio Mozambique for maintaining a
"balanced outlook" and developing a code of ethics for their
journalists. Carter's report also said coverage by the newspapers of
confrontations between supporters of Renamo and Frelimo, the two main parties
contesting the presidential and parliamentary elections, was "one-sided
and often inflammatory." The assessment also
praised the CNE and Carter paid tribute to Jaimisse Taimo its chairperson,
for "dedication and efficiency". "Over all the
campaign and electoral process are progressing satisfactorily, given Mozambique's
recent history and context. There are positive indicators that the process
will continue on track through the election days." Main problems identified
other than the report's blast at some sections of the media were:
The assessment concluded that "the common sense and desires of ordinary Mozambicans for a peaceful electoral process are prevailing." (SARDC) |
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