The Commonwealth Observer Group (COG), which was in Mozambique for the October 9 elections, issued an interim statement today calling for moderation while the country awaits the results of the elections.

The Group's interim statement praised all Mozambicans for the peaceful way in which they exercised their democratic right to vote, despite some security challenges, especially in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, as well as the problematic municipal elections in November 2023.

The results have not yet been released by Mozambique's National Electoral Commission (CNE), but speaking about the release of the COG's provisional declaration in Maputo, COG president, former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, the Honorable Kenny Anthony, said:

“As the results process continues to progress towards its conclusion, we call on all political party leaders and their supporters to continue to show restraint and magnanimity and to continue to uphold the principles of peace and tranquillity, and to prioritize national unity and stability. We hope that Mozambique will continue to benefit from the lessons that have been learned in the past and that successive elections will be an improvement on previous ones. We also ask the CNE to conduct the process of releasing the results with all the necessary diligence and transparency“.

On the other hand, the Group's report praised Mozambique for achieving 42% representation of women in the National Assembly, moving towards the gender parity target of 50/50.

"Women accounted for 53% of all registered voters. This is a welcome development. We note with encouragement that the main political parties have taken steps to include women in the electoral process through the adoption of quotas," she said.

The Group raised concerns about allegations of electoral malpractice by stakeholders, many of which were also circulating in the public domain. These alleged malpractices were similar to those identified by Commonwealth observers in 2019 and included ballot stuffing, deterioration of ballots, citizens found with unmarked and pre-marked ballots, registered voters with their names already crossed off the register and unregistered voters attempting to vote. The Group calls on the appropriate institutions under the law to investigate these issues.

The Group will continue to monitor the results process, and the full evaluation of the entire process, including any recommendations for improvement, will be contained in its final report, which will be made available to the public in due course. (Text: Commonwealth)