Collapsing Electoral Integrity in Mozambique
Excessive secrecy has always compromised the integrity of Mozambique’s
elections. The National Elections Commission secretly changes results with
no records kept nor any public notice that changes have been made. The
official final results of the 2019 elections were changed three times by the
Constitutional Council with no comment and identical document numbers.
The political parties want a politicised electoral machine with party nominees
to all electoral bodies, and integrity has steadily declined. By 2018–9 elections
had become dominated by the ruling party, Frelimo, which was able to openly
change the outcome of municipal elections and create 329 430 ghost voters
in the national elections. Civil society observers had become an important
check on elections; but in 2019, independent observation was blocked in
several provinces and the head of civil society observation in one province
was assassinated by a police hit squad. The judiciary, which ordered a rerun
in one town in the 2013 municipal elections, has become politicised and will
no longer intervene. This paper is an empirical account of those events.
Mozambiques’s 2014 Elections: A Repeat of Misconduct, Political Tension and Frelimo Dominance
The cease-fire that ended the military hostilities between government and Renamo paved the way for Mozambique’s fifth general elections on 14 October 2014. Frelimo consolidated its dominant position in an election underpinned by fraud and misconduct at the polling stations. There was an imbalance of power with Frelimo enjoying better organisation and patronage networks, control […]
‘Why participate in elections if we’re not properly represented?’ Women’s political participation and representation in SADC countries
Increased democratisation in Southern Africa might suggest that gender equality no longer matters in the politics of countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Yet the political participation and representation of women remains controversial owing to gender stereotypes, rhetoric, tokenism and patriarchy. Critically examining the political processes in the SADC region, specifically elections, […]
Party Institutionalisation in Mozambique: ‘The Party of the State’ vs the Opposition
The article probes party institutionalisation in Mozambique and argues that only three of the more than 50 registered political parties there are ‘effective’, namely Frelimo, which is highly institutionalised; Renamo, which is collapsing organisationally yet has a high level of social rootedness; and an institutionalising MDM. The article concludes that although the opposition parties are […]
International Justice vs Public Opinion: The ICC and Ethnic Polarisation in the 2013 Kenyan Election
The article probes party institutionalisation in Mozambique and argues that only three of the more than 50 registered political parties there are ‘effective’, namely Frelimo, which is highly institutionalised; Renamo, which is collapsing organisationally yet has a high level of social rootedness; and an institutionalising MDM. The article concludes that although the opposition parties are […]
Mozambique’s 2009 Elections: Framing Democratic Consolidation in Context
Mozambique’s fourth post-conflict elections, held in October 2009, accorded citizens and the political elite an opportunity to assess their democratic experiences over two decades of transition from one-party to multiparty democracy. Dominated by the two oldest political parties, the incumbent Frelimo and the opposition Renamo, the election tested the degree to which Mozambicans were able to consolidate their democratic gains and exposed the extent of the political elite’s capacity to play by the rules of the democratic game. Despite robust electioneering, heated debate and the exclusion of some presidential and party candidates from standing, the election was conducted in relative peace, attesting, by and large, to the elite’s ability to combine political competition, cooperation and a few selfless compromises in pursuit of safeguarding hard-won democratic gains, peaceful co-existence, political stability and a modicum of economic growth. This article analyses Mozambique’s 2009 elections with specific reference to: the major issues which dominated the elections; the framing and salient features of postconflict democratic consolidation or the lack of it; and the role of the new political parties in the party alignment. By addressing these issues, we hope to shed light on the implications of the elections for post-liberation politics and democratic consolidation.
Direct Democracy in Southern and East Africa: Referendums and Initiatives
There seems to be a worldwide trend towards direct democracy instruments such as referendums and initiatives. The African Union Charter (2007) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) strategy papers (2003) recommend these instruments. Is direct democracy the panacea for the problem of strong personalisation of African party politics? If electoral democracy is the […]
Electoral Reform in Southern Africa: Voter Turnout, Electoral Rules and Infrastructure
Elections are the most important elements of democracies and, with referenda, the only way to organise mass participation and to promote government accountability. Low voter turnout can be seen as an indicator of low legitimacy and limited political stability. The African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development champion […]
Irish Electoral Politics
Why might South and Southern Africans find the Irish electoral experience especially relevant and instructive? Firstly, they may identify parallels with their own recent political history. Ireland’s political institutions are the result of a post-colonial settlement and were designed to accommodate an ethnic minority. They survived a long period of one-party rule. Historically they were […]