By Tomásia Job
Maputo (MOZTIMES) - The president of RENAMO, Ossufo Momade, has demanded the annulment of the general elections held on 9 October. The preliminary results of those elections claimed that the candidate of the ruling Frelimo Party, Daniel Chapo, won the presidential poll with 70.67 per cent of the votes, while Momade only won 5.81 per cent.
Speaking on Monday to the media, at the Renamo headquarters in Maputo, Momade expressed his concern at the theft of votes that had occurred in the October elections. It was this, he said, that was at the root of the wave of protests that had resulted in deaths across the country. "We are worried by the silence of the body that represents the people, which is watching the slaughter of Mozambicans by the police, even though many of them did not participate directly in the demonstrations. It is time that the Assembly of the Republic met in defence of the people it says it represents", he said.
Momade said the abuses occurring in Mozambique, involving the police, were taking place under the gaze of the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) which is doing nothing to stop the deaths from police bullets during the demonstrations. "Likewise, the Attorney-General’s Office, the institution that should defend peaceful citizens, says nothing about the death of many Mozambican citizens at the hands of the police, which claims to be Republican and non-partisan", he added.
Momade did not say what he will do if the Constitutional Council does not annual the elections. But he noted that the international community has been unanimous in declaring that the elections did not reflect the will of the Mozambican people, due to the various irregularities that were registered during the phase of the provisional count.
RENAMO, however, is proposing the formation of “a caretaker government” that will ensure the full operation of state institutions, while preparations are made for holding free, fair and transparent elections. This proposal comes at a time when the country has already recorded more than 25 deaths in the demonstrations called by the presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who is supported by the PODEMOS Party and insists that he won the election.(TJ)
