Citizens list, the system downtime and ....

A Mocimboa da Praia citizens list waited until the last minute to collect required documents for its candidates and failed. It appealed to the Constitutional Council (CC), which rejected the claim – starting late is not an acceptable excuse. But it is an unfortunate loss as Mocimboa da Praia is the centre of the small “Islamist” insurgency and thus an independent force in a traditionally divided town could have provoked interesting debate.

The group is the Association of Natives, Friends and Supporters of Mocimboa da Praia (Associacao dos Naturais, Amigos e Simpatizantes de Mocimboa da Praia. UMODJA).

Each candidate must submit five documents, the most difficult of which is the certificate of no criminal record, which is often delayed. In its appeal to the CC, it said that the criminal record certificate could only be applied for in person at the Cabo Delgado provincial capital, Pemba. The 25 list members arrived there on 9 August, just five days before the 13 August deadline. The computer system was down and on the first day only three certificates were issued. By the 13th, six certificates were still missing, so UMODJA submitted an incomplete list, which was rejected by the CNE.

UMODJA also complained that the CNE shortened the time available to submit candidates because of the delay in approving electoral legislation in parliament in July. The original calendar allowed 23 days, 5-27 July. Only on 5 August did the CNE announce that submission of candidates lists would start the next day, 6 August, and continue until 13 August – a period of just eight days.

This newsletter noted at the time that this would create problems for small groups. But in practice the delay actually gave parties and lists two extra weeks to obtain documents, and across the country most parties continued to work to the 27 July deadline and so were able to obtain all their documents.