The head of the CPLP electoral observation mission said Tuesday that São Tomé law does not require the publication of provisional results before the count in the districts and that the National Electoral Commission (CEN) “is in its sovereignty.”
The mission does not understand that the dissemination of the electoral results does not comply so far with the electoral regulations of São Tomé and Príncipe”, said the Brazilian ambassador to Angola, Rafael Vidal, who heads the electoral observation mission of the Portuguese Language Community. . (Community of Portuguese Language Countries, CPLP) to the legislative, municipal and regional elections held on Sunday.
The president of the CEN, José Carlos Barreiros, announced on Monday night the total number of voters of each of the 11 parties and movements that compete for the legislative elections on Sunday, but without specifying how many seats were assigned to each, referring the task to the Constitutional Court.
Barreiros also did not indicate the result by district, referring this information to a subsequent publication on the official CEN website, but which had not yet occurred until Tuesday afternoon.
After reading the preliminary statement of the Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of the CPLP, in one of the hotels in the capital of São Tomé, Rafael Vidal said that the CEN “is still waiting for the count of votes by districts”, so “if the commission understands that they must wait for the final count for the publication of the final results, it is in their sovereignty to do so”.
As far as we know, there is no provision in the electoral law of São Tomé and Príncipe that explicitly obliges or determines that the disclosure of the results must occur before the count of the districts,” said the Brazilian diplomat in response to questions from journalists. . .
Contrary to the EOM of the European Union, which said on Tuesday that it expects “the electoral commission to make public the provisional results by district,” because that will allow “the process to be transparent,” the CPLP chief of mission understands that this controversy, which has caused political and social tension in São Tomé and Príncipe, does not fit in with the work of the Portuguese-speaking observers.
“The electoral observation mission must adhere to the procedures, electoral norms of the country, to observe the deviations or possible improvements that can be shared with the authorities of São Tomé and Príncipe”, commented the head of the CPLP EOM.
Rafael Vidal said that “the deadlines are still being met” by the CEN, which “is conducting the investigation for the eventual disclosure of the provisional results.”
The CPLP mission “also awaits the counting of votes in the districts,” but understands that “many times haste is the enemy of perfection.”
Therefore, we trust the work of the electoral commission and hope that these results will be published. […] The mission understands that the population of São Tomé and Príncipe, the press, and journalists must have patience with this process, trust the authorities of the national electoral commission, and wait for the results to be published within the work that is being carried out internally” Rafael Vidal stressed.
The CPLP EOM is made up of 20 electoral observers, including deputies and advisers appointed by the CPLP Parliamentary Assembly and employees of the organization’s executive secretariat.
According to Rafael Vidal, on the day of the election, the CPLP EOM noted “an important turnout of voters who, in an orderly manner, participated in the voting process, without prejudice to specific difficulties, especially to give priority to voters with special needs.” .
“In the tables observed, the CPLP EOM verified that the counting process, carried out after the vote, complied with the legal provisions of the country and with good international practices in electoral matters,” Rafael Vidal stressed, referring to the mission of the CPLP CPLP “welcomes compliance with the electoral schedules established by law and recommends updating the electoral registry.”
On the other hand, the CPLP EOM highlighted “the need for continuous training of electoral agents” and welcomed “the creation of constituencies, in the legislative elections of the African and European diasporas”, who participate for the first time in this process.
“The CPLP EOM congratulates the people and authorities of Santo Tomé for the ongoing electoral process, especially for election day, carried out in a civic spirit, in peace and harmony, and thanks the fraternal welcome and collaboration received,” said Rafael Vidal .
Source: Observadora
