The "Mais Integridade" Electoral Consortium is calling for the removal of electoral officials following the decision to repeat the vote in four municipalities. Irregularities and illegalities led to the annulment of the elections.

Made up of seven Mozambican organizations, the consortium called on Friday for the removal of the elements involved in the electoral process that led to the decision to repeat the local elections in four municipalities.

In a statement, the group "urges the central electoral administration bodies", such as the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE), "to remove the local electoral authorities of those four districts, whose irregular and illegal behavior led to the annulment of the elections, from the direct or indirect management of the entire process, from the voting to the intermediate tabulation".

"The consortium recalls that the magnitude of the irregularities and illicit acts recorded is only possible with the full involvement of the respective presidents of the polling stations, members of the district and city electoral commissions and STAE district officials, so it makes no sense to entrust the management of the elections that are being repeated to the same transgressors, precisely because they have abdicated from fulfilling their obligations with integrity," reads the note quoted by DW.

"The CNE and the central STAE only need to draw on their own experience to deploy their members and senior staff to supervise the voting and tabulation directly on the ground, as happened in the repeat vote in Gurúè, Zambézia, after the results of the first round were annulled in 2013," the consortium, which had around 500 people on the ground observing the October 11 local elections and the electoral process, also calls for.

On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved the decree that sets December 10 as the date for repeating the local elections in the four municipalities where the process was not validated by the Constitutional Council.

A communiqué issued after the 41st ordinary session of the Council of Ministers indicates that the body approved the date proposed by STAE, and that the elections will be repeated in some polling stations in the municipality of Nacala-Porto, in the municipality of Milange, in the municipality of Gurúè and in all 41 polling stations in the municipality of Marromeu.

The process involves repeating the election in 18 polling stations in Nacala Porto, three in Milange, 13 in Gurúè and all 41 polling stations in Marromeu.

Current legislation establishes that when the election of one or more polling stations is declared null and void, "the corresponding electoral acts are repeated until the second Sunday after the decision of the Constitutional Council".