POLICE URGE CITIZENS TO LEAVE POLLING STATIONS AFTER VOTING

The Mozambican police on Monday urged voters not to hang around the polling stations after casting their votes in Wednesday’s general election.Speaking to reporters, the deputy police commander in Maputo City, Bernadinho Rafael, said the presence of large groups of people at polling stations after they have voted could present a threat to public order and security.“There are situations where some political parties concentrate their supporters after they have voted”, he said. “We urge that no-one should form groups around the polling stations”.Rafael was referring to the opposition Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) which, during last year’s municipal elections, urged its supporters to stay at the polling stations “to protect their votes”. This was a contributory factor to disturbances in the cities of Beira and Quelimane.The electoral legislation is clear: people must leave the polling stations immediately after voting. Apart from polling station staff, and those in the queue to vote, the only people allowed in the station are accredited monitors representing the candidates, accredited observers and journalist, paramedical staff, and one member of the police force.Rafael said the police are prepared to guarantee calm voting in all Maputo city polling stations.He added that during the 43 days of the election campaign, the police were only notified of four election offences in Maputo. Three of them concerned the destruction of election posters and one was a brawl between supporters of rival parties.Rafael thanked the citizens of Maputo for their peaceful behaviour during the campaign period, and urged them to show the same behaviour on polling day.