- FRELIMO holds the largest number of parliamentary seats since the end of the single-party system, while RENAMO loses its status as the main opposition party.
- Fears of post-election violence arise as the presidential candidate remains in an undisclosed location since Monday, the 21st, urging popular protests against electoral fraud.
By Noémia Mendes
Maputo (MOZTIMES) – FRELIMO’s presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, has been declared the winner of Mozambique's seventh presidential election, with 70.67% of the vote, making him the 5th president of the African nation. His party, FRELIMO, won the legislative elections with over 76% of the vote, securing 195 of the 250 parliamentary seats, according to data announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) this Thursday (24) in the capital, Maputo. Voter turnout was 43.48%, one of the lowest on record.
Chapo, 47, was widely expected to win the presidential race, benefiting from running with the ruling party, which has been in power since the country’s independence and controls the electoral management bodies while exerting significant influence over the electoral courts.
The main opposition party, RENAMO, suffered its worst defeat ever, securing only 20 parliamentary seats, a reduction of more than 50% from the 51 seats won in the 2019 election. As a result, RENAMO loses its position as the largest opposition party, a status now assumed by the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS), which secured 31 parliamentary seats.
RENAMO’s presidential candidate, Ossufo Momade, also fared poorly, achieving the lowest-ever percentage for a candidate of the party, with only 5.81% of the votes, equivalent to 403,591 valid votes in total.
PODEMOS is a party formed by former FRELIMO dissidents and led by Albino Forquilha, another former FRELIMO member.
The Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) managed only four parliamentary seats, losing two compared to the outgoing legislature. Its candidate, Lutero Simango, garnered 223,066 votes, equivalent to 3.21% of the total valid votes becoming the least voted candidate of the election.
Fraud and fears of popular uprising
Venâncio Mondlane, an independent presidential candidate backed by PODEMOS, received 1,412,517 votes, corresponding to 20.32%, making him the second most-voted candidate. However, Mondlane does not recognize the election results, alleging that fraud cost him the presidency. Citing data from a parallel vote count conducted by his team, Mondlane claims he won the presidential election and that PODEMOS won the legislative elections.
Both domestic and international observers, including the European Union Election Observation Mission, reported witnessing ballot box stuffing in some provinces.
The election results were announced in a tense atmosphere, with runner up presidential candidate calling for popular protests to contest the election results in the streets.
“The protest is against lies and the manipulation of electoral results across the country. We must show the ruling party that the time has come, and the people are in charge,” said Mondlane in a live broadcast on his Facebook page on Tuesday (23). As of today, the capital, Maputo, woke up deserted, with fears of violent popular protests and clashes with the police.
On Monday, the 21st, the capital, Maputo, and other cities across the country experienced popular unrest, resulting in at least three deaths and over 100 injuries, along with dozens of arrests, according to data from the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD).
On the night of Friday, October 18th, Venâncio Mondlane’s lawyer, Elvino Dias, and PODEMOS’s electoral agent, Paulo Guambe, were shot dead by unidentified individuals while driving in downtown Maputo. Mondlane accused the Defense and Security Forces of killing his colleagues. The police have promised to investigate the murders, but so far, no arrests have been made.
At Dias's funeral, held this Thursday, thousands of PODEMOS supporters protested with banners and chants, repeating the slogan “FRELIMO will not rule”.
The coming days will be crucial in monitoring post-election tensions in the southeastern African country, which is rich in natural gas, graphite, coal, and other abundant resources, but has a large young population facing high unemployment rates and urban poverty.
Mozambique’s Catholic Bishops issued a letter calling for dialogue between the main political forces and proposing the formation of a possible National Unity Government. (NM)
