Ismael Valigy

Member
Mozambique's Central Election Commission, 1994
Focus Area(s)
Elections
Critical Tasks
Election schedules
Vote counting
Voter education
Interviewers
Amy Mawson
Country of Reform
Mozambique
Town/City
Maputo
Country
Mozambique
Date of Interview
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Abstract
Ismael Valigy talks about his role on Mozambique’s election commission in 1994, when he helped oversee the country’s first free and fair elections after a long civil war.  He begins by providing background information on the challenges that negotiators faced in 1993 while drafting the country’s new electoral law.  He goes on to discuss the pivotal role played by the election commission’s chairman, Brazao Mazula, who managed to build consensus among political adversaries within the commission when it began operating in 1994.  Valigy explains in detail the sequencing of different parts of the electoral process, and how discussions within the election commission evolved.  He talks about some of the obstacles the commission encountered, including difficulties accessing rural areas and a last-minute boycott by the main opposition party.  Valigy also highlights the important role that the international community played in financing and supporting Mozambique’s first elections.
 

Full Interview

79MB
Ismael Valigy Interview
Profile

Ismael Valigy began his career at the Ministry of Education in the late 1970s. In 1990 he began working as a diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Two years later, during the Mozambican peace negotiations that spanned the early 1990s, Valigy was invited to represent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a group that the government established to help organize the country’s first election after a 15-year civil war. In late 1993 the ruling party nominated Valigy to serve on the country’s newly established Central Election Commission.  After the elections he continued his career as a diplomat, which included a posting to Washington, D.C. 

Keywords
communications
Donor Relations
Election Management Body
media relations
results declaration
rural voter registration
UN Policies
voter education
Voter Registration
Mozambique
Not specified