Mozambique Political Process Bulletin 2004 Election specials by e-mail Issue 21 Friday 10 December 2004 Editor: Joseph Hanlon (
[email protected]) Deputy editor: Adriano Nuvunga ========================================= IN THIS ISSUE: + Frelimo declares victory + Observers arrested in Tete + Dhlakama alleges "massive fraud" + Counting begins in Maputo + 556 phantom polling stations + Edital in rubbish + No province meets count deadline ========================================= FRELIMO DECLARES VICTORY BASED ON SAMPLE COUNT Frelimo held a press conference yesterday afternoon to release the result of a sample count, which shows a clear Frelimo victory. The Electoral Observatory carried out the sample count based on 792 polling stations, and the results give Guebuza 60% and Dhlakama 31% in the presidential race, and Frelimo 61% and Renamo 27% in the parliamentary race. On Thursday Brazao Mazula, Vice-Chancellor of Eduardo Mondlane University, representing the Electoral Observatory, delivered copies of the parallel count to the two presidential candidates, Armando Guebuza and Afonso Dhlakama, the National Election Commission (CNE), and the Constitutional Council. The Observatory count is based on a sample of 792 polling stations -- every 16th polling on the official list. The sample was collected by 1600 observers from the Electoral Observatory, a coalition of seven major Mozambican groups. They were supported by the Carter Center and experts in parallel vote counts, and the sample count should predict the final result very well. The Electoral Observatory is composed of the Christian Council (the umbrella grouping of the main protestant churches), the Islamic Council, the Catholic Bishops' Conference, the Human Rights League (LDH), the Mozambican Association for the Development of Democracy (AMODE), the Centre for Studies in Democracy and Development (CEDE), and the Organisation for Conflict Resolution (OREC).