CNE says it has enough money for elections
Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE) on Monday claimed that it has enough money to hold the municipal elections scheduled for 11 October.
Speaking at a Maputo press conference, the CNE spokesperson, Paulo Cuinica, declared “there is money for holding the elections. We never stopped working for lack of money”.
“We are permanently with the Finance Ministry to try to solve the following steps”, he added.
But Cuinica gave no details. He did not say how much money is available, or where it has come from.
He said that 23 parties, coalitions and citizens’ groups have registered to participate in the municipal elections. This number consists of 18 political parties, two coalitions of parties, and three independent groups. Cuinica stressed in particular a previously unheard-of group, Moja, from the municipality of Mocimboa da Praia in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
The number could rise, since the CNE is still waiting for information from the provinces. While political parties must all register at the CNE headquarters in Maputo, independent citizens’ groups register with the relevant Provincial Elections Commission.
Cuinica said more organisations have registered this year than for the previous municipal elections, in 2018, when 19 parties, coalitions and groups registered.
But of the parties registered, only the ruling Frelimo Party and the two main opposition parties, Renamo and the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), are represented in parliament and in the provincial and municipal assemblies.
The other parties are small, with few members or votes, and no publications – indeed most of them do not even have a website.
The CNE is now checking the documentation of the organisations that have registered, to ensure that it is in line with the electoral legislation. The competing parties must present the nomination papers for their candidates as from 20 July.
Cuinica warned them that, when presenting their candidates, the parties must ensure that they have enough names on their lists. The list must include enough candidates to fill all the seats available in the municipal assembly, plus at least three supplementary candidates.
Cuinica urged parties to indicate more than the bare minimum of three supplementary candidates, to avoid rejection of their lists for containing an insufficient number of candidates.
(AIM)
