Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Aiming for transparency

At the time of the visit, Mozambique was preparing for its national elections. As part of these preparations, the NIMD country office in Maputo began exploring ways to develop a forum through which the National Electoral Commission (CNE), registered political parties and other electoral stakeholders could share information, foster good working relations, and consult each other on electoral matters.

The exchange visit provided an opportunity for electoral stakeholders from Malawi to share their experience of a similar dialogue undertaken in the run-up to the Malawian general elections in early 2009. For their Mozambican hosts, it was an important and timely visit.

Visitors from Malawi included representatives of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), the Malawi Electoral Support Network (MESN, an umbrella body of civil society organisations active in the field of elections), and NIMD’s partner in Malawi, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy-Malawi (CMD-M), a forum established by Malawian political parties.

Overcoming distrust through dialogue

The main component of the exchange visit was a workshop on dialogue with electoral management bodies. Members of the Malawian delegation described the considerable amount of distrust that had previously existed between the political parties and the electoral management body in Malawi, the MEC.

They also demonstrated how, by meeting each other regularly, the distrust slowly disappeared and a situation developed whereby problems that came up could be discussed amicably, often resulting in a commonly agreed upon solution.

The input from the Malawian participants in the workshop provided the basis for appreciating the need for such a structured way of interaction among electoral stakeholders in Mozambique. Commissioner Chikoko of the MEC recalled her own experience of Malawi’s 2009 general elections. She noted how important it was for the MEC to ensure that consultations with key stakeholders took place at every stage in the electoral process.

She admitted that the meetings were at times very tense and confrontational, with some political parties trying to infringe upon the MEC’s responsibilities. However, “by being transparent and open to dialogue, we quickly regained the confidence of the stakeholders and we were able to run the Malawi elections in an atmosphere characterised by trust and mutual respect,” she said. 

What happened next

Participants agreed that a dialogue process would be very beneficial in the Mozambican context. The Mozambican political parties, civil society organisations and CNE therefore resolved to establish a dialogue platform in the run-up to their own general elections.

The dialogue platform that was launched as a result of this exchange visit presented an unique opportunity for all concerned stakeholders to come together and put their questions and problems to the CNE. A climate emerged whereby questions could be asked of the CNE and answers were heard by the parties. The multi-stakeholder meetings helped to improve the dialogue and communication among political parties themselves, and between the parties and electoral management bodies.

In a political context that has traditionally been characterised by high levels of distrust between the main political players, and low levels of interaction, this represented a remarkable step towards creating a space of more structured dialogue on issues of common interest.

This ultimately led to increased understanding of the actions of the CNE, and a reaffirmation of the Electoral Code of Conduct of 2004 by all political parties participating in the 2009 general elections.