José Caldeira crushes Lúcia Ribeiro's argument on electoral observation

José Caldeira esmaga argumento de Lúcia Ribeiro sobre observação eleitoral

Lawyer José Manuel Caldeira believes that the General Elections of October 9 took place outside of normality and, consequently, led to the current post-election scenario.

The period has been marked by electoral disputes submitted to the competent bodies and demonstrations across the country that have already resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Mozambicans, including unarmed civilians and armed police, thousands of injuries, vandalizing and looting of public and private property. In addition, the private sector has estimated losses of more than 24 billion meticais, including the closure of hundreds of jobs.

"Under normal conditions, if the whole process had been carried out in a normal way, perhaps all this wouldn't have been necessary," he said in a debate on the CIP Cast program of the Center for Public Integrity.

On the other hand, Caldeira hushed up the "legal" argument of the President of the Constitutional Council (CC), Lúcia Ribeiro, about electoral observation.

Yesterday, during a meeting with the leadership of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), Ribeiro explained that the political intervention of the parties ends at the National Electoral Commission (CNE), which has a political composition. Podemos expressed the need to include political parties, observers and journalists in the process of finalizing the results at CC level.

The President of the body clarified that although the CC has, in its upper structure, judge advisors appointed by political parties, they do not act for the benefit of those who appointed them.  

In Caldeira's view, Ribeiro's argument is misplaced and contrary to the law itself.

 "But in the situation we're in, where there is mistrust, I don't see how we can defend the fact that the legal framework doesn't allow observers, for example, not to take part in this phase. The law says that only with the proclamation does the process end. Observation goes from the initial phase to the phase that ends, which is proclamation. The law says so," he said.

What's more, he said that there is legislation that allows the courts to use legally flawed evidence.

"On the other hand, the law itself allows for judicial inquiries. What the CC is doing is no longer, in my opinion, a judicial inquiry," he noted, recalling that this action is in line with a forensic audit proposed by one of the political parties competing in the elections.

"In the context of a judicial inquiry, I don't see what's wrong with broadening the scope," he said.

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