Opposition leader calls for electoral law ammendments

Renamo’s candidate for governor of Maputo, Antonio Muchanga, has insisted that the only way of eliminating electoral fraud is to amend the electoral legislation to allow the recounting of votes. A report on the allAfrica site notes that Muchanga said the law as amended by Parliament would allow ‘electoral justice' precisely because it gives district and city law courts the power to order recounts. However, President Filipe Nyusi has vetoed the amended law, sending it back to Parliament for reconsideration. ‘The President returned the law because he wants to perpetuate fraud', Muchanga claimed. ‘He's violated the Constitution. So we are going to force him to approve the amended version, just as it stands, to ensure that nobody can steal the votes that the people deposit, and give them to any party.’ The Constitutional Council, the country's highest body in matters of electoral law, claims it is the only body with the authority to order recounts, a claim which is strongly contested by Renamo and the Mozambican Bar Association.