The Mozambican High Commissioner to Malawi, Jorge Gune has confirmed that the the Malawian authorities have banned the voter registration of Mozambicans living in Malawi ahead of this year’s general elections.
Malawi is one of nine countries where Mozambicans living in the diaspora are entitled to vote in Mozambique’s general elections.
According to a report on Radio Mozambique on Monday, registration in Malawi, as in the eight other countries, began on 1 May and is scheduled to end on 30 May but, with no prior warning, last week the Malawian authorities interrupted the registration and decreed that it can only resume after Malawi’s own elections, due to be held on Tuesday.
“The decision is, to some extent, embarrassing”, Jorge Gune is quoted as saying on Monday by Radio Mozambique.
The provisions of the 1990 Mozambican constitution, revised in 2004, provides for all Mozambicans living in the diaspora to vote in their countries of residence.
However, Gunedownplayed the problem, even regarding it as “very normal, since the two electoral processes are overlapping.
The Malawians consider Tuesday’s elections as the most contested since the introduction of a multi-party system in Malawi”.
“The decision is normal and peaceful, bearing in mind that the Malawian authorities intend to control their process”, said Gune.
The challenge now, he said, was to “redouble our efforts in the remaining period, so that we can manage to meet the targets”.
According to the statistics issued by the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the total number of Mozambicans of voting age living in Malawi is 11,408. Between 1 and 12 May, 1,262 of them had registered as voters.
CM/as/APA