Speech by the Swedish Ambassador

Meeting with the President of the CNE
On September 10, a meeting was held with the President of CNE. Ambassador Torvald Åkesson, representing the EU Presidency in Maputo, stated that he was alarmed by reports that give the impression that the fundamental principles of freedom, fairness and transparency in the electoral process, are not fully followed. Below follows the press statement:
Meeting with the President of the CNE on 10 September 2009.
HOMS of the EU, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and the US


1. Thank you for this opportunity to meet with You, Mr. President of the CNE. I very much appreciate that you were able to receive us at this short notice.

2. I would like to start by: On behalf of the Presidency of the EU here in Maputo, I am pleased to note following the agreement and the signing of the MoU ,that there is a positive decision in Brussels on fielding an EU EOM to Mozambique. I am sure you have been informed about the details. We look forward to see them here and we are prepared to do what we can on our side to facilitate the work of the Observation Mission. We assume that the EOM will have the necessary access to all parts of the electoral process. Unfortunately there was not enough time provided to observe the Voter Registration Process.

3. I understand that both of us – the CNE and development partners of Mozambique – are interested to meet in order to clarify and shed light on some aspects of the initial electoral process. We have read in newspapers, heard from civil society and watched the TV about issues relating to the ongoing electoral process, which make us - as close development partners - concerned.

We have closely followed the gradual strengthening of the electoral process over the years. The Mozambican commitment to democracy including free and fair elections, is one of the important foundations for our long term cooperation and partnership in development.

We are therefore alarmed by reports that give the impression that the fundamental principles of freedom, fairness and transparency in the electoral process, are not fully followed. More specifically:

The freedom for candidates and political parties to run has been questioned.

The fairness of the process has been questioned because complaint and appeal procedures were not complied with and the CNE decision is perceived to give unequal treatment to parties and candidates.

The transparency of the process is under question because the CNE did not yet publicly justify its decisions with facts and references to the law.

We understand according to some newspapers that CNE has stated that mistakes have been made and that some rectifications can still be made. We welcome this.

These electoral issues are of course for Mozambique to deal with. What is our major concern is that what has happened has given room for an impression that the process is being manipulated to the benefit of some and to the disadvantage of others. It also gives room for speculations and rumours that are not healthy.

Therefore an electoral process that is transparent and understandable by the general public is a very important factor for a successfully conducted free and fair election preceded by an election campaign without fear of conflict, violence and intimidation.

Torvald Åkesson
Ambassador of Sweden
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