Specific changes to Mozambique’s electoral law, including the removal of district courts’ powers to order recounts of election votes, have already come into force, according to legislation accessed by Lusa on Tuesday.
The laws in question are Laws 14/2024 and 15/2024 of the Assembly of the Republic, published in the Boletim da República on 23 August, which establish, respectively, the legal basis for the election of members of the Provincial Assembly and the Governor of the Province and the legal basis for the election of the President of the Republic and the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic.
Both laws were promulgated by Mozambique President Filipe Nyusi on August 21 after “verification that they do not contradict the fundamental law,” as the republic’s presidency stated at the time, and came into force just before the start of the election campaign (August 24) for the general elections on October 9.
On 8 August, the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique approved these specific changes to the electoral law, removing the jurisdiction of district courts to order a recount of votes following a previous veto by the President of the Republic.
The changes to the electoral rules were approved in detail and finally: 197 votes were cast in favour of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo, the party in power and the parliamentary majority) and the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the main opposition party) and four against the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM, the third largest political force in the country).
Once the amendments became viable, Parliament removed the jurisdiction of the district courts to order recounts of votes in the country’s elections, eliminating the clause that led to the veto of the President of the Republic and returning the rules to Parliament.
The Frelimo panel justified the vote in favour of the changes by citing the need to maintain the consensus reached between the panels on the revision of the electoral law.
“Yes, we voted to remove the doubts expressed by the President of the Republic, because we understand that he did so in the interests of defending democracy,” said MP and representative of the ruling party Felix Silvia, when reading the declaration of the direction of the vote of your parliamentary group.
The Renamo Collegium said that this made it possible to amend the electoral law due to the urgency created by the October 9 elections and also because there were some aspects that had been clarified.
“We voted to avoid institutional confrontation [entre o parlamento e o Presidente da República] on an urgent and important issue, to make the elections more flexible,” said Renamo MP Antonio Muchanga.
The MDM parliamentary group justified the vote against, considering that depriving district courts of the right to recount votes violates the parliamentary understanding contained in the version vetoed by the President of the Republic.
“In the name of integrity and transparency, we reject maneuvers aimed at silencing electoral justice,” said Silverio Ronguane.
Earlier, the Mozambican parliament amended the electoral law, explicitly defining that district courts do not have the power to order a re-run of elections in Mozambique after the Constitutional Council invalidated decisions of this body ordering a new vote in municipal governments. elections in Mozambique will be held on October 11.
Mozambique will hold presidential elections on October 9, which will be held simultaneously with legislative, gubernatorial and provincial assembly elections.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.