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RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #0175/01 0541336
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R 231336Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1322
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0627
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000175 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2020 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM MZ
SUBJECT: EU OBSERVER MISSION REPORT NOTES ELECTIONS CONCERNS 
 
MAPUTO 00000175  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Leslie V. Rowe for reasons 1.4 (b+d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY: On February 16, the EU Election Observer 
Mission (EU EOM) released its final report on the October 
national elections in Mozambique.  In the ensuing press 
conference, Chief Observer and European Parliamentarian Fiona 
Hall noted an unclear and contradictory legal framework 
governing elections, concerns with counting and tabulation in 
some areas, and a poorly functioning system for complaints 
and appeals; but fell short of assigning specific blame for 
any shortcomings.  Hall noted that the EU EOM had concerns 
about a "limitation of voter choice."  The EU EOM report 
details serious flaws including the large-scale 
disqualification of legislative candidates during the 
campaign, and political manipulation of the electoral space 
by the ruling party through the National Electoral Commission 
(CNE).  Following the release of the report, diplomats from 
several EU member countries were displeased that the report 
was not even more hard-hitting, and criticized the "kid 
gloves" approach taken by the EU EOM in failing to apportion 
blame on the ruling Frelimo party for the flawed election 
cycle. But the report has still raised many concerns and 
received considerable attention, both from the GRM and civil 
society.    END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------- 
EU OBSERVER MISSION RELEASES REPORT 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  The EU Election Observer Mission (EU EOM) released 
its final report (available at 
http://www.cip.org.mz/election2009/ndoc2009/ 
294 Final Report EU EOM en.pdf ) on the October 2009 
Presidential, Legislative, and Provincial elections.  The 
report summarizes the efforts of 24 long-term observers, who 
began observing the electoral process on October 4, and 72 
short-term observers who arrived several days prior to the 
October 28 elections.  Counting local observers from EU 
member state missions, the EU EOM fielded 129 observers from 
24 EU member states.  (Note: Mission Maputo fielded more than 
fifty percent of the 68 locally recruited diplomatic 
observers in a parallel effort organized by the UNDP, and 
data from this UN-organized observer mission was then 
aggregated into the polling station data used by the EU.) 
 
¶3.  (C)  On February 16, the Chief Observer Fiona Hall, a 
member of the European Parliament, described the elections 
processes on polling day itself as generally positive. 
Evidence of this, according to the EU report, included 
orderly voting day processes, an electoral environment that 
included freedom of speech, and neutral media reports about 
the various candidates.  Hall reported that areas of concern 
included an unclear and contradictory legal framework 
governing elections, concerns with counting and tabulation in 
some areas, and a poorly functioning system for complaints 
and appeals.  As an annex to the report, the EU EOM made 25 
recommendations for changes to the electoral system in the 
areas of legal framework, election administration, voter 
registration, political parties and candidates, campaign 
environment, voter education, election observation, 
complaints and appeals, vote counting and 
tabulation, and the media. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
CHIEF OBSERVER SAYS "LIMITED VOTER CHOICE" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (C)  When questioned by reporters about whether the EU 
EOM considered the October 2009 election to be "free and 
fair," Hall side-stepped the issue, saying she had some 
concerns about a "limitation of voter choice," and that the 
"process had a lack of transparency and a problem with the 
legal framework."  Hall was careful not to assign any blame 
to the ruling party or any other group, and avoided direct 
discussion of the National Electoral Commission's (CNE's) 
massive disqualification of opposition candidates for the 
legislative assembly, which virtually assured a 
super-majority for the ruling FRELIMO party. 
 
------------------------------------ 
REPORT IS OCCASIONALLY CONTRADICTORY 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C)  Despite the EU EOM's observation that the voting 
process on election day was relatively calm, its report notes 
a host of irregularities on October 28, including numerous 
instances of political party delegates ordered to leave 
 
MAPUTO 00000175  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
polling stations before the counting process began. 
International observers and party delegates were also not 
allowed to observe the aggregation of results at the 
district, provincial, and national levels in many instances. 
Ballot stuffing was a problem, according to the report, 
including 135 cases of polling stations displaying turnouts 
of 100 percent or higher.  The high number of spoiled 
opposition party ballots, which in some cases were reinstated 
by the CNE, is mentioned only in passing. 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
REPORT MENTIONS MAJOR ELECTORAL SHORTCOMINGS 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  The EU EOM report refers to direct political 
manipulation of the process by the ruling party through the 
CNE, stating that "key stakeholders, including opposition 
political parties, questioned the CNE's independence, despite 
a recent reform of its membership with a view of including 
civil society members in its structure."  Referring to the 
disqualification of opposition party legislative candidates, 
the report states "the process of registration of candidate 
lists for the National Assembly and Provincial Assembly 
elections sparked particular controversy.  The variety of 
legal documents regulating the process created uncertainty..." 
 
¶7.  (C)  The EU EOM report goes on to say that election day 
irregularities were of limited concern because "the very wide 
margin of victory for FRELIMO resulted in limited concerns 
about the impact of violations on results."  Paradoxically, 
the report goes on to state that the "absence of a full list 
of polling stations with numbers of registered voters however 
limits any opportunity to produce an accurate evaluation of 
the statistical distortion caused by ballot stuffing or 
tabulation fraud." 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
COMMENT: EU REPORT NOTES A SERIOUSLY FLAWED ELECTION, 
            BUT COULD HAVE BEEN MORE FORWARD-LEANING 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Local diplomats from several EU member states were 
apoplectic in conversations with Emboffs following the 
release of the report, citing its many analytical 
shortcomings and the absence of any attempt to assign blame 
for a seriously flawed election.  They criticized the 
emphasis on improvements in the process instead of on more 
significant concerns about the political will involved in 
ensuring free and fair elections.  Some frustration among the 
EU member states' representatives in Mozambique is linked to 
the EU EOM's move in October to muzzle EU members, banning 
them from making any statements about the electoral situation 
for fear of influencing the process.  Local EU diplomats' 
responses also suggest that the observer mission failed to 
vet its report with member states.  It is troubling that the 
EU EOM report's conclusions are far from rigorous, perhaps 
due to a lack of seriousness of some of the Mission's senior 
staff.  But the report has still raised many concerns and 
received considerable attention, both from the GRM and civil 
society. 
ROWE