Lawyer and journalist Ericino de Salema considers the Constitutional Council's (CC) interpretation that district courts do not have the power to annul election results to be problematic.

"I don't think the CC is doing well in these matters, in particular, because the law, as far as I understand it, gives such powers to the district courts," said Ericino de Salema.

Furthermore, he said, the CC itself reached this decision through interpretation, "a very difficult interpretation in my opinion", he said.

Salema says it is unreasonable to arrive at a situation where "the district courts are excluded from certain functions that are typical of the courts by means of an interpretation that, in my opinion, is very laborious".

The source, who was speaking yesterday in Maputo at an event to reflect on the electoral process in Mozambique, recalled that there have already been situations of voting being annulled by administrative bodies..."there are clear elements that lead me to conclude that the CC itself is being contradictory with this," said the scholar in electoral matters.

As for the current model for the functioning of the Constitutional Council, the lawyer agrees with those who advocate a single mandate in order to safeguard some independence.

"I think that the term of office should be a single one, of seven to nine years, and that with that there would be no perception that the judge himself is acting with his own re-election in mind," he said.

Salema also advocated a broad debate and reflection on the need to transform the Constitutional Council itself into a court as such, from a formal point of view.

Still on the subject of the transparency of electoral processes, the lawyer believes that there should be a section for debating electoral issues and, he said, "in the event of disagreement, we could appeal to the plenary... or we should democratize the processes, allowing the sections to be public, to be televised and for the press, anyone interested to be there to witness, to watch".

The jurist also says that the president of the Constitutional Council should be elected by his peers and not by the President of the Republic.

The source says that "we need to start thinking about a new model that can give us confidence, credibility and also seriousness in the composition of electoral processes".

Salema says that in an election, it's not enough for a body to be credible, it's not enough for a body to do its job..."The most important thing above all is the popular perception of whether or not entities are independent, credible and serious. Even if they are, when the perception is different, trust is no longer there."

In the National Electoral Commission (CNE), the lawyer defends an independent composition in which the members do not come from political parties.

"They should be selected in a public tender taking into account their skills, their proven track record, and this can be done through a parliamentary committee, and if we don't agree, we can turn to a private human resources entity," he said.