Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) has excluded the Democratic Alliance Coalition (CAD), which supports politician Venancio Mondlane’s presidential bid, from the October general elections because it did not meet the legal requirements announced by the electoral body on Thursday.
“The closed multi-member lists of candidates of the Democratic Alliance Coalition are rejected due to failure to comply with the legal requirements established for the nomination of candidacies, which invalidates the nomination process,” Paulo Quinica, a spokesman for the Coalition, told CNE to read the consensus discussion on the verification of the applications received.
According to the same agreement, published this Thursday in Maputo, the CAD constitutional agreement was approved on April 27 by the political parties Padres, Palmo, Panade, Partonamo, PDPM and PRD, but after providing the missing documentation, the electoral body states that two of these parties were not included in the new agreement without the corresponding act confirming the change, as required by law.
The CNE also states that it has been established that the CAD is created as a “legal entity independent of the other political organizations” that make it up, in violation of what is established by electoral law, which also justifies the exclusion.
According to the CNE, the process received registration from 35 political parties, a coalition of parties and two citizens’ groups for the October 9 general elections – in this case for the legislative bodies, governors and provincial assemblies – for a total of 9,167 individual candidacies for the Assembly of the Republic and 9,893 candidates for members of the provincial assemblies.
The lists of 35 political parties running for the Assembly of the Republic and 14 political parties and citizens’ groups voting in the provincial assemblies were approved by the CNE, as well as their exclusion from the CAD lists.
Mozambican politician Venancio Mondlane on July 5 accused the CNE of “engineering maneuvers” aimed at failing the coalition’s lists.
“They are trying to make the candidacy unfeasible, arguing that the coalition was asked to compensate for some irregularities, creating maneuvers, saying that the CAD must be approved, which is a huge contradiction,” said Venancio Mondlane.
He added that the CNE intends to reject the CAD’s lists of candidates for the October 9 elections, citing irregularities discovered during registration with the body.
“There is no endorsement of a coalition because it is the result of an agreement. These are parties that reach an agreement to form a common front for the election period,” Mondlane said, adding that the “pact” concluded in the coalition formation period expires at the end of the election cycle.
“Moreover, there is no point in supporting the CNE because it has no legal personality, and the law states that it must be supported by the parties that make up the collective, not the coalition,” the politician said, reiterating that the CNE “violates the Constitution of the Republic of Mozambique and the electoral law.”
Venancio Mondlane said these were the “inscrutable desires” of some CNE members, but warned of a possible “popular uprising” if the CAD list’s candidacy was rejected: “Although they are used to humiliating people at will, he would not agree with the CAD’s candidacy being rejected for reasons that have no legal basis.”
Venâncio Mondlane, 50, who was the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) candidate in the last municipal elections in Maputo municipality in 2023, has resigned from the party of which he had been a member since 2018 and from the position of MP for which he was elected – after failing to run for the leadership of the largest opposition party at its congress in May.
On 24 June, the Constitutional Council approved the candidacies of Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo), the ruling Ossufo Momade, supported by Renamo, the largest opposition party, Lutero Simango, supported by the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), the third parliamentary force, and Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the CAD, for the post of President of the Republic.
The presidential election will be held simultaneously with legislative elections, as well as gubernatorial and provincial assembly elections.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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