By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 31, 2000; Page A15

Just last month, U.S. diplomats were holding up Mozambique as a model of African democracy and reconciliation.

"Look to your other neighbor, Mozambique, where the U.N. oversaw a cease-fire and transition process that also led to democracy," Richard C. Holbrooke, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, urged a South African audience in December. "The people of Mozambique are making history as we speak, with their second multiparty elections."

But the Mozambican democratic miracle is suddenly looking tarnished. After the peaceful casting of votes in December, the counting of the ballots was marred by allegations that the election commission, after locking out observers from the Atlanta-based Carter Center, tossed out tens of thousands of opposition ballots in order to inflate the margin of victory for the ruling Frelimo party candidate, incumbent President Joaquim Chissano.

"The lines of people standing under the sun [to vote] were inspiring," said a U.S. official in Mozambique. "Then the lid came down. The vote counting was messy, and . . . in a lot of people's minds, a cloud remains."

The State Department has glossed over the irregularities, some Africa analysts say, because the candidate preferred by the United States won. The State Department hailed the peaceful voting, and after the Mozambican Supreme Court unanimously rejected the opposition's protests, the United States seemed eager to put the controversy to rest.

"All Mozambicans can be proud of the continuing strength demonstrated by their multiparty democracy," the State Department said after the court ruling. "The election results were very close. In recognition of this fact, we hope the opposition in the assembly will fulfill its democratic responsibilities and contribute fully and constructively to governing the country and consolidating a strong, sustainable democracy."

It remains unclear whether opposition candidate Afonso Dhlakama, a former guerrilla leader, plans to play the role of parliamentarian or seek a more disruptive form of opposition. Members of his Renamo party took 117 seats in the country's 250-seat parliament, but Dhlakama boycotted the presidential inauguration on Jan. 15 and last week moved some of Renamo's offices out of the capital, Maputo, to his traditional stronghold in Beira.

"Clearly the State Department is aware that electoral fraud took place," said a senior State Department official. "And it's saying to Renamo . . . 'Take it like a man.' "

Though it is a country of only 19 million, Mozambique has been one of the few bright spots for democracy in Africa, and the State Department has long emphasized the southeast African nation's progress.

In 1994, the United States and other European donors spent $60 million, or about $11 per voter, on elections in Mozambique. Last year, they gave about $40 million, including $2 million from the United States to support election observers and voter education programs. Mozambique is also one of the largest recipients of U.S. developmental assistance in sub-Saharan Africa.

After a long civil war in which the apartheid government of South Africa backed Renamo, the warring Frelimo and Renamo factions made peace and the country went to the ballot box in 1994. Chissano's Frelimo party won by a comfortable margin; Dhlakama's party was the biggest opposition group. Including his time in office before the civil war ended, Chissano has been president for 13 years.

Voting took place again from Dec. 3 through Dec. 5, 1999. By all accounts, it was peaceful and orderly. International observers were there, including a 50-person delegation led by former president Jimmy Carter and Botswana's former president, Ketumile Masire.

According to David Carroll, a member of Carter's delegation, "It was clear that the race would be very close." But as the results were tabulated over the next two weeks, he said, a large number of ballots--many filled out by uneducated people from rural areas--required interpretation by the national election commission because the preferences intended were unclear.

The Carter Center delegates and election observers from South Africa offered to help the election commission examine the contested ballots, but the commission rejected the offers. The U.S. ambassador to Mozambique, Dean Curran, lobbied unsuccessfully for the commission to allow Carter Center officials to be present.

The election commission invalidated tally sheets from several hundred polling stations--about 7 percent of the total number of voting places--mostly in provinces where Dhlakama's support was strong.

"We regret that the access granted was not consistent nor adequate for our observers to verify the accuracy of these processes," the Carter Center said, noting that disagreements had "created some doubts about the transparency of the process."

Renamo appealed to the Mozambican Supreme Court, whose members have been appointed by Chissano. The court decided unanimously against Renamo. "It is not enough to claim there is fraud or illegality. It is necessary, as the law says, to present elements of proof," the court said.

While acknowledging some irregularities, the court ruled that they did not change the outcome. It calculated that Dhlakama would have needed 77 percent of the disputed ballots to win, a bigger margin than he carried in any province.

Even if Dhlakama accepts the election results, the tabulation procedures have soured many experts and U.S. officials about Mozambique's ruling party, which already owns most of the country's media. The New York-based organization Human Rights Watch had expressed concern earlier about "heavy-handed policing and the manipulation of the electoral process." Now, even though Renamo won majorities in six of the country's 11 provinces, Chissano is widely expected to install Frelimo governors in every province.

"What does Renamo have to show for this great democratic experiment?" a senior U.S. diplomat asked rhetorically.

The opposition party "feels entitled to some recognition, and I think they are," said Curran, the U.S. ambassador. "I think the [Mozambican] government should take note and be more inclusive."

But Curran still praised the elections' peacefulness and Renamo's willingness to press its case "in the courts and not in the streets." Mozambique, he said, still "deserves to be on the model pedestal--even though it's not perfect."