The leader of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), Mozambique's third largest parliamentary force, yesterday expressed his dissatisfaction with the anomalies in the electoral register in a meeting he held with the Mozambican head of state.

"We took the opportunity [the meeting with the head of state] to express our concern about the way the voter registration was conducted," said Lutero Simango, moments after being received by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi.

At issue are complaints from opposition political parties about alleged anomalies in the electoral census, held between April 20 and June 3, accusing the ruling Frelimo party of having manipulated the operation.

"We presented two concrete examples: the example of the director of the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration in Beira [suspended after allegations of electoral wrongdoing that harmed the opposition] and also the disproportionate distribution of voter registration posts," observed Lutero Simango.

Mozambique registered more than eight million voters for the local elections on 11 October, the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (STAE) announced after concluding the process, which was strongly criticized by the opposition and civil society organizations that monitor elections in Mozambique.

In addition to voter registration, Lutero Simango and Filipe Nyusi discussed other issues of social interest, in particular terrorism in Cabo Delgado and the closure last week of the last base of the armed wing of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition party, in Gorongosa, in the central province of Sofala, as part of the peace agreements.

"We took notes on his [Lutero Simango's] suggestions and it was also an opportunity for us to explain some things about these processes [...] Good ideas don't have political colors, I said that in 2015 and these ideas have emerged here," concluded the Mozambican head of state, in the brief statements made to the press after the meeting with the MDM leader. (Lusa)