Friday, October 31, 2014

The Winner

The results announced by the National Elections Commission give victory in the presidential, the Frelimo candidate, Philip Nyusi, with 57.3% of the vote. According to the CNE and STAE, Dhlakama, Renamo gained 36.61%, and Simango, MDM, got 6.36% of votes.
In the legislative elections, the CNE and STAE attribute the victory to the Frelimo party with 144 MPs. Renamo deputies gets 89, and MDM with 17, out of 250 seats in parliament.
Renamo wins in three Provincial Assemblies.The Provincial Assemblies, Renamo managed to get the largest number of seats in three assemblies: Zambezia, Tete and Sofala.
In Zambezia province, won 51 seats, Renamo, Frelimo won 37, and the MDM won four, out of 92 seats.In Tete, Renamo won 44 seats, Frelimo won 35, and the MDM obtained 3, a total of 82 mandates.In Sofala, Renamo won 46 seats, Frelimo won 29, and the MDM won seven in a universe of 82 seats.In Tete and Nampula, it appears that Renamo succeeded largest number of seats in the provincial assemblies, but lost in the laws, which suggests some data manipulation.For example, in Tete, in laws, elected 10 deputies, while for the provincial assemblies obtained 44 seats.In Zambezia, Renamo, in the elections to the provincial assemblies, won 51 seats, while the laws had the same number of seats that Frelimo, with 22 seats. The results of the overall clearance of last October 15 elections were announced yesterday (30) by the President of the National Electoral Commission, Abdul Carimo, and the Director General of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration, Philibert Naife.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Serious, very serious

The Mozambican government on Wednesday in Maputo signed an agreement with the Joaquim Chissano Foundation and the Peace Parks Foundation to fight wildlife crime.The partnership will support the development of dedicated anti-poaching operations in and around the Limpopo National Park (PNL) in the southern province of Gaza.The agreement follows on from a Memorandum of Understanding signed in April by the Mozambican and South African governments promoting joint action on the management and conservation of biodiversity, and aimed at stopping poaching, particularly of rhinos.Under Wednesday’s agreement, the Peace Parks Foundation will spend thirty million rand (about 2.8 million US dollars) and offer material support and assistance to anti-poaching activities.These funds come from a 15.4 million Euro donation from the Dutch and Swedish lotteries to the Peace Parks Foundation.According to a press release from the Peace Parks Foundation, wildlife crime is the fourth largest illegal activity in the world after drug trafficking, counterfeiting and human trafficking, with an annual turnover of at least 19 billion US dollars.
The Foundation laments that poaching “is decimating Africa’s iconic species of elephant, rhino, lion and leopard and threatening the very existence of Africa’s protected areas where tourism is a major GDP contributor”.Its Chief Executive, Werner Myburgh, explained that “many of the actions will be taken jointly by Mozambique and South Africa. Wildlife crime is often transnational by nature and transfrontier conservation areas and agreements, such as these signed today, offer an important platform to counter the decimation of our protected species”.The project includes the updating of the communications technology used by rangers as well as shared communication across the border with South Africa. Rangers will also receive training, new equipment and improved working conditions.An essential part of the project involves giving support to the judicial system in Mozambique so that it can implement the stiff penalties provided for in the Conservation Areas Act.In April the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, passed a bill dramatically increasing the penalties for poaching, particularly of endangered species.The law proposes prison sentences of between eight and 12 years for people who kill, without a licence, any protected species, or who use banned fishing gear, such as explosives or toxic substances. The same penalty will apply to people who set forests or woodlands on fire (poachers often use fire to drive animals into the open).Anybody using illegal firearms or snares, even if they do not catch protected species, can be sentenced to two years imprisonment.In addition, those found guilty of the illegal exploitation, storage, transport or sale of protected species will be fined between 50 and 1,000 times the minimum monthly national wage in force in the public administration (at current exchange rates, that would be a fine of between 4,425 and 88,500 US dollars).Central to the project is the Joaquim Chissano Foundation’s Wildlife Preservation Initiative. This is developing research on policy formation in Mozambique as well as promoting the use of sniffer dogs along known trafficking routes.The PNL covers over 1.1 million hectares, and forms part of the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which also includes the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Gonarezhou Park in Zimbabwe. Between them, the three parks cover a total area of 5.5 million hectares.The Peace Parks Foundation was established in 1997 by the then South African President Nelson Mandela, Anton Rupert, chair of the South African Branch of WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. It aims to promote Southern African Peace Parks (also known as transfrontier conservation areas) including the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Park.



Results today, 15 hours

The National Election Commission will announce today at the Conference Center "Joaquim Chissano", the final results of the vote on 15 October, which was marked by episodes of election fraud and police violence in all constituencies dominated by the opposition, having also been shooting of citizens. All opposition protests submitted to the electoral bodies and courts of first instance were rejected.
There were more than 700 000 votes were considered null subject of protest by the opposition. On Monday, the National Elections Commission reclassified only 178,000 votes, and were still to be reviewed by the subcommittee of the Legal Affairs over 2000 votes on which there was protest. National and international election observers have delivered their reports, which indicate widespread irregularities, with strong potential to call into question the transparency of the process. The opposition has come to publicly announce it will not recognize the results of these elections, because of clear cases of electoral fraud. Came to be held in the city of Beira, the chief of the Election Operations STAE, Sonia Zimba after being caught committing a crime to falsify results in favor of Frelimo and Philip Nyusi. There are strong suspicions that such collaborator STAE is already free. But the information was not confirmed. It is unlikely that the CNE announce results different from those that have already been presented in favor of Philip Nyusi and Frelimo party. The uncertainty is about the moment after the announcement of the results, since Renamo, on Tuesday, announced that it won the general elections.

However if the other members of Renamo and MDM is refusing to sign the results and there is no consensus CNE may trigger the system votação.A judging by the polls, 4 Renamo, the MDM 1 will not be enough to prevent the disclosure of results.The civil society is the one that can unbalancing with 12 seats.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Journalists Jeremias Langa & Tomás Vieira Mario

It is not through ignorance or "deficit" of understanding of what constitutes electoral processes. It's not for lack of experience or lack of baggage that fills Mozambicans the most diverse type of messages. Nor is it for lack of knowledge of what are the ethical principles and ethics of journalism.Who prospers and refers to Philip Jacinto Nyusi as PR is nothing more and nothing less, than Tomas Viera Mario (TVM), in the televised debate of STV, on the night of 26 October 2014. This comes at a time that have not yet been official results announced by the CNE.
Be in error, or was it just a bit flighty and attentive to one commentator / analyst pressed throughout a nebula approach the situation?
Will be a message that seeks to put Mozambicans face a "fait accompli" as long Joaquim Chissano has been done?
How does the statement of someone with the journalistic and political career of securities to be seen? If, for a careful observer, was the image of the Lord in question was paying advising the Frelimo largely of its "pronouncements", it is also clear that he intends Mozambicans consider the numbers so far advanced by the agencies election are accepted without complaint by Mozambicans.In the wake of partial and fully intended to devalue addictions, irregularities and illegal "pronouncements", has been a tendency of commentators / analysts with captive space in the media the idea that pre-election violence and election day is not a problem. The idea that accusations of "ballot box stuffing" issue is that there has been past. So as an advisor to the Minister of Justice caught in the act trying to "ballot stuffing" was not sanctioned, either convince themselves Mozambicans that did not happen. Now arise analysts seeking to develop theories of ethno-political voting tendency in Gaza to explain astronomical numbers voting in favor of Frelimo and its candidate. Deliberately ignores relevant factors that denounce unequivocally meticulously planned exercise adulteration of the popular will. Cut up the "passing lanes", a play that we have seen in the past.When the President of the Constitutional Council aligns the pitch of the acceptance of results, which is even talking about?
The route of the fraud does not constitute or confer democratic legitimacy on which winners will be declared through manipulation and "electoral engineering". Someone said that it was for elections without independent audit of "software" and it was serious.Was up for election in a troubled environment, full of improvisation and open so that we could honestly without executing illegal maneuvers spaces. And how honesty is scarce in the country and how well the shame is scarce, the results did not wait.If can not persist in calling our democracy as a deficit due to his young age, and seek to compare situations with other neighboring or distant countries. Competence, integrity and responsibility are elements that take and apply, or deny.
The apparent promiscuity among democratic powers, the seemingly peaceful cohabitation between who appears lawful whom is known as belonging to gray areas give rise to doubts as to have consistency and uprightness of candidates and parties. The "Caesar's wife must have corresponding form and content." Commentators / analysts Service, part of them, they forget quickly the genesis of the war 18 months. To be chosen by criminal tampering of election in favor of Frelimo candidate results, someone signals that the proposed schedule is to risk again the peace and stability of the country. To be chosen by "organized clutter" of elections, gives it a sign that the cultivators of autocracy not disarm or show themselves willing to accept the will expressed by popular vote.We have a problem on their hands that will not be televised programs to solve. Whatever is said or repeated will not persuade Mozambicans that his vote is reflected in the announced results, if there is a serious screening irregularities and discrepancies in the numbers. Arrangements that can be done between different policy will be useful to the extent that they are able to have clear understandings about what happened and ways to normalize the situation in view of the higher interests of the nation.Feels that there is no celebratory mood because it is recognized that there were serious problems throughout the electoral process and the competing parties are willing to complain about with documents and facts. Those in power are making a risk management outputs and pondering over what it hopes will be the final position of the opposition. Deny that there are problems, some of them incurable, such is the level of existing addiction and detected, would truthfully. And wonder how journalists feedback as TVM refuse or hesitate to enter into his analysis. The analytical cosmetics have consequences, and one of them is to convince politicians that evaluations of such "strategists" are valid and provide certainty as to the route chosen.
The lapse of TVM(Tomás Vieira Mário), or personal conviction, has value and should be taken for their worth.Balanced penchant FL debate on 26 October 2014 at STV well worth the worth. Each of us has their own opinion and their right trend."Nobody dislikes the taste it has." But, as public figures, there are things you can not say.We do not want a repeat factor "Brazão Mazula" as a conditioning element of the election results.The CNE and STAE failed and fail every day that delay the announcement of the election results.Support the proposed layoff of people pack too costly for the State Budget and which do not produce credible results.Tied in "procurement" and obedience to instructions to a strange process we want fair, free and transparent schemes, these people should be banned from serving in the state apparatus.There can be contemplations for those in crisis fosters national stability.Any disruption of the current situation tolerable peace be directly attributed to whom vitiated the electoral process.Mozambique can not continue to be a guinea pig of computer experiments paid by OGE, to ensure the maintenance in power of this or that candidate or party. (Noah Nhantumbo)

“REQUALIFICATION” OF INVALID VOTES THROUGHOUT WEEKEND

Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE) continued throughout the weekend with the gigantic task of reclassifying hundreds of votes which were regarded as invalid during the polling station count immediately following the 15 October general elections.By Sunday, nine of the 11 provincial constituencies had been dealt with, leaving until last the two largest provinces, Nampula and Zambezia. The CNE had brought in staff from its executive body, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (stea), and teams of two members each worked their way conscientiously through mountains of supposedly invalid votes. Each ballot paper was thus seen by at least two people. The teams were chosen so that one was a staff member indicated by the ruling Frelimo Party, and the other by one of the opposition parties.The teams were clearly working to rescue as many of the ballots as possible, giving the voters the benefit of the doubt wherever they could. Watching the “requalification” of supposedly invalid votes from the parliamentary election in Zambezia and Nampula, AIM noted that, quite unlike previous years, the majority of votes sorted by the teams watched were reclassified as valid. In many cases this was because the polling station staff had been too strict, judging a ballot as invalid simply because the “x” or, in the case of illiterate voters, the fingerprint, strayed beyond the borders of the favoured party’s box. Voters using the inkpad rather than the pen provided found it particularly difficult to mark the parliamentary ballot paper because so many minor parties were standing. The names were crowded together, and if a voter put his fingerprint on the box for one party, he might find it difficult to prevent some of the ink from going into the box above or below.The teams adopted a common sense attitude – if most of the fingerprint or cross was in one box, that was the party the voter had chosen. But there were many votes classified as invalid at the polling stations where there could be no doubt – the entire cross or entire fingerprint was neatly placed in one box. AIM saw a string of about 50 perfectly valid votes for the ruling Frelimo party, one after another, which polling station staff had seen fit to reject.There seem two plausible explanations for this. One is deliberate fraud – in the middle of the night, hoping they would not be spotted, staff surreptitiously tossed votes they disapproved of into the pile of invalid votes.Alternatively, tired of doing the job properly, staff just shoved fistfuls of ballots into the heap of invalid votes, without even looking at them, in order to finish more quickly, fully aware that the votes would be rescued in Maputo. The first hypothesis assumes that staff did not know what happens to votes declared invalid, the second that they did.In both cases it is not possible to know which district, let alone which polling station, these votes came from. At this stage, the votes are only dealt with by province.One problem that occurred in both Zambezia and Nampula was the use of felt tipped pens. Since these pens are not included in polling station kits, the voters must have brought them from home. They seem to have taken seriously the rumours that the ballpoint pens at the polling stations were not trustworthy and that, if they used them, their votes might mysteriously disappear.The problem with felt tipped pens is that they put a lot of ink onto the paper, so that, when the paper is folded, ink can be transferred to the other side, making it look as if the voter had tried to vote for two parties. Careless use of the ink pad can have the same effect. Some voters make their feelings very clear indeed – but in ways that invalidate their votes. Thus the voter who bothered to write “Party of bandits! Sons of whores!” in the Renamo box, was just wasting his time. The CNE expects to have the requalification complete by Sunday evening, and the reclassified votes can then be added to the totals of valid votes for all candidates and parties in the 11 provinces. 

Saturday, October 18, 2014

ONCE AGAIN, CENTRAL BANK HOLDS INTEREST RATES STEADY



The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mozambique, meeting in Maputo on Friday, decided to keep the bank’s key interest rates unchanged for at least another month.The statement issued by the Committee said that the Standing Lending Facility (the interest rate paid by the commercial banks to the central bank for money borrowed on the Interbank Money Market) will remain at 8.25 per cent.The Standing Deposit Facility (the rate paid by the central bank to the commercial banks on money they deposit with it) remains at 1.5 per cent, and the Compulsory Reserves Coefficient - the amount of money that the commercial banks must deposit with the Bank of Mozambique – is also unchanged at eight per cent.It is now 13 months since there was any change in the Central Bank’s interest rates. The last alteration was in October 2013, when the Standing Lending Facility was cut by 50 base points, from 8.75 to 8.25 per cent.The Committee also decided that the central bank will intervene in the inter-bank markets in order to ensure that the monetary base does not exceed 53.786 billion meticais (about 1.74 billion US dollars, at current exchange rates) by the end of October. At the end of September, the monetary base had reached 52.846 billion meticais, 1.5 per cent lower than the target of 53.648 billion meticais.The monetary base had risen by 863 million meticais in September. Bank reserves had risen by 209 million meticais (1.1 per cent), and the amount of notes and coins in circulation by 654 million meticais (two per cent). Over the past year, the monetary base has risen by 9.4 billion meticais (21.7 per cent).The statement from the committee noted that, according to the consumer price index for the three major cities (Maputo, Beira and Nampula), the September inflation rate was minus 0.17 per cent. September was thus the fifth successive month in which prices fell.
Prices rose in the first four months of the year – by 0.98 per cent in January, 0.39 per cent in February, 0.91 per cent in March and 0.12 per cent in April. Then inflation turned into deflation and prices began to fall – by 0.38 per cent in May, 0.52 per cent in June, by 0.04 per cent in July, by 0.55 per cent in August, and now by 0.17 per cent. The result is that accumulated inflation over the year – from 1 January to 30 September – stands at 0.71 per cent.The monetary policy committee commented that the behavior of inflation over the last five months “is explained by the greater offer of fruit and vegetables, and by the stability of the metical on the exchange market, supported by the Bank of Mozambique making an adequate amount of foreign currency available”.At the end of September, the metical was quoted at 30.8 to the US dollar on the Inter-Bank Exchange Market, which was a depreciation over the month of 0.95 per cent. Since the start of the year the metical has depreciated by 2.84 per cent against the dollar.The metical rose against the South African rand in September. There were 2.75 meticais to the rand at the end of the month, compared with 2.89 on 31 August. The metical thus appreciated against the rand by 4.84 per cent over the month, and by 3.51 per cent since the beginning of the year.Preliminary figures for the end of September show a fall of 158.3 million US dollars in Mozambique’s net international reserves. By the end of the month, the reserves stood at 3.093 billion dollars, enough to cover 4.3 months of imports of goods and non-factor services (excluding the imports made by the foreign investment mega-projects).As for commodity prices, the Committee noted that the price of Mozambique’s main export, aluminium, is continuing to increase. In August the world market price of aluminum rose by 4.29 per cent. Over the year from September 2013 to August 2014, aluminium prices rose by 11.8 per cent.Coal prices are continuing to fall, which must be a matter of considerable concern for the companies who have invested heavily in coal mining in the western Mozambican province of Tete. In August the price of coking coal fell by 1.4 per cent and of thermal coal by 0.4 per cent. Over the past year the price of coking coal fell by 24.4 per cent. August also saw another sharp fall – of 10.4 per cent – in the international price of natural gas.One item of good news for Mozambique is that the price of the liquid fuels it imports is continuing to fall. The benchmark Brent Crude was quoted at 94.67 US dollars a barrel on 30 September, but fell to 84.47 dollars a barrel on 16 October.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

STAE PROJECTIONS GIVE VICTORY TO NYUSI

Filipe Nyusi, the presidential candidate of the ruling Frelimo Party, seems certain to win Wednesday’s election, but with a much lower share of the vote than the current President, Armando Guebuza, achieved in the 2009 election.The initial projections made by the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) are that Nyusi will achieve over 60 per cent of vote, almost double the vote of his nearest rival, Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo.The provisional results released by STAE in Maputo on Thursday morning cover only 1,454 polling stations – or 8.55 per cent of the 17,010 stations in the entire country. Although this sample is small, the projections from it are broadly in line with projections made by other media and observer groups.

The polling stations covered in the STAE announcement gave the following results:
Filipe Nyusi (Frelimo) – 272,310 (60.69 per cent)
Afonso Dhlakama (Renamo) – 141,180 (31.46 per cent)
Daviz Simango (MDM) – 35,235 (7.85 per cent).

The head of the STAE press department, Lucas Jose, gave journalists figures from five of the eleven provincial constituencies. Those results are as follows:

Cabo Delgado province (results from 198 of 1,555 polling stations)
Filipe Nyusi – 15,207 (77.9 per cent)
Afonso Dhlakama – 3,794 (19.43 per cent)
Daviz Simango – 521 (2.67 per cent)

Zambezia province (results from 236 of 2,925 polling stations)
Filipe Nyusi – 25,630 (43.49 per cent)
Afonso Dhlakama – 27,609 (46.85 per cent)
Daviz Simango – 5,688 (9.65 per cent)

Manica province (results from 460 of 1,104 polling stations)
Filipe Nyusi – 73,738 (50.93 per cent)
Afonso Dhlakama – 65,398 (45.17 per cent)
Daviz Simango – 5,661 (3.91 per cent)

Gaza province (results from 58 of 1,924 polling stations)
Filipe Nyusi – 15,387 (85.34 per cent)
Afonso Dhlakama – 1,104 (6.12 per cent)
Daviz Simango – 1,540 (8.54 per cent)

Maputo City (results from 502 of 944 polling stations)
Filipe Nyusi – 142,348 (68.62 per cent)
Afonso Dhlakama – 43,275 (20.86 per cent)
Daviz Simango – 21,825 (10.52 per cent)

As for the parliamentary election, STAE has processed far fewer of the results sheets from the polling stations. Jose could only give provisional results from a fairly small number of polling stations in four provinces. These results were:
Cabo Delgado province (results from 198 of 1,555 polling stations)
Frelimo – 13,239 (79.79 per cent)
Renamo – 2,693 (16.23 per cent)
MDM – 571 (3.44 per cent)

Zambezia province (results from 31 of 2,925 polling stations)
Frelimo – 8,318 (46.19 per cent)
Renamo – 7,895 (43.84 per cent)
MDM – 1,767 (9.81 per cent)

Manica province (results from 112 of 1,104 polling stations)
Frelimo – 15,132 (50.74 per cent)
Renamo – 12,753 (42.76 per cent)
MDM – 1,412 (4.73 per cent)

Maputo Province (results from 203 of 1,244 polling stations)
Frelimo – 42,091 (70.71 per cent)
Renamo – 9,436 (15.85 per cent)
MDM – 6,567 (11.03 per cent).

The “Mozambique Political Process Bulletin”, published by AWEPA (European Parliamentarians for Africa) and by the anti-corruption NGO CIP (Centre for Public Integrity), ventures a projection that Nyusi will end up with 60 per cent of the presidential vote, Dhlakama with 32 per cent and Simango with eight per cent.As for the parliamentary elections, the Bulletin predicts that Frelimo will win 57 per cent of the vote, Renamo 30 per cent and the MDM 12 per cent. The other one per cent is scattered around the 27 minor parties contesting the elections. On the basis of this forecast, the eleven provincial constituencies will between give Frelimo 142 seats in the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, Renamo 75 and the MDM 31.This only adds up to 148 seats, because the remaining two parliamentary seats are allocated to the constituencies in the Mozambican diaspora. No results from polling stations in the diaspora have yet reached AIM. 
On past performance it seems likely that both these seats will go to Frelimo.These projections are a significant setback for Frelimo. In 2009, Guebuza and Frelimo won around 75 per cent of the vote, and Frelimo had 191 deputies in the 250 member parliament. With a majority of well over two thirds, Frelimo could have changed the constitution on its own, if it so desired. This time the Frelimo majority seems likely to fall well short of two thirds.As for Renamo, it has made a remarkable recovery. Dhlakama’s percentage of the vote seems set to double compared with the 2009 figure, while the Renamo parliamentary group will be boosted from the current 51 to around 75. This is despite Dhlakama’s decision to return to war last year in order to force changes in the electoral legislation. Any belief that Renamo’s murderous behavior would cost it votes has proved illusory.The MDM will certainly be disappointed that it failed to build on its successes in the 2013 municipal elections. Those successes now seem due to the fact that Renamo boycotted the municipal polls, and so all opposition votes went to the MDM. With Renamo back in the picture, many people who made their political home briefly with the MDM have drifted back to Dhlakama.In the current parliament the MDM only holds eight seats, largely because it was only able to stand in four constituencies in 2009. Standing in all constituencies this time, the MDM is likely to see the number of its parliamentarians rise to over 30.

NO DECISION YET FROM CNE ON RE-RUN ELECTION IN SOME AREAS

Mozambique’s National Elections Commission (CNE) has yet to decide whether to re-run the general elections in those areas where polling stations did not open, or were sabotaged, on Wednesday.The law does allow for a repetition of the elections in such cases, and on a Wednesday night television panel CNE spokesperson Paulo Cuinica suggested this was precisely what the CNE would do in the case of four polling stations which failed to open in the northernmost province of Niassa.These stations are in the remote area of Lupilichi, near the Tanzanian border. Only 669 voters are registered there – but they have the same right to vote as any other Mozambicans, and it was no fault of theirs that the electoral bodies failed to bring the polling station staff and voting materials there.At a Thursday press conference, Cuinica could not state categorically that the election would be re-run here, only that it was a matter that the CNE will decide.Similarly with the case of polling stations destroyed by the former rebel movement Renamo in Tsangano district, in the western province of Tete. This was the most serious incident of violence during the election. Renamo supporters torched polling stations, destroying the ballot papers, and are also reported to have taken hostage three policemen and two polling station staff (though Cuinica was unable to confirm this detail).The CNE must also look at several other serious irregularities: for instance, in the coastal town of Angoche, where groups of Renamo youths also went on the rampage, polling station staff evacuated several polling stations for security reasons. This meant that the primary count could not take place at the polling stations, as dictated by the law.Instead, the staff put the ballot boxes and other materials on their heads and walked to the Angoche district offices of the CNE’s executive body, the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE). 
The count was then conducted at the STAE offices.Cuinica said this was justified since “the conditions did not exist to count the votes at the polling stations”. But the CNE will have to decide whether this was the right call, and if not, whether to re-run the election at these polling stations.Asked about claims by Renamo and by the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) that the elections were characterized by “generalized irregularities”, Cuinica said that so far the CNE has received no formal complaints from either of these parties.He pointed out that the opposition parties not only had monitors at the polling stations, but the main political parties (Frelimo, Renamo and the MDM) were each able to appoint a member of staff at each of 17,010 polling stations.In addition, the elections had been watched by national and foreign observers, and by a large number of Mozambican and foreign journalists. Cuinica thus had no doubt that, despite the violent incidents which took place, in general the election could be described as free and fair.