– Hours after receiving a summons from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the candidate who proclaimed himself the winner of the elections challenged the authorities to arrest him
– In the past, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has ordered the arrest of opposition figures, but a possible arrest now of Venâncio Mondlane could precipitate a popular revolt
By Sheila Nhancale, Stélvio Martins and Noémia Mendes
Maputo (MOZ TIMES) – Post-election tension is rising in Mozambique. On Tuesday afternoon, the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) notified the opposition presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, to “refrain from acts that violate the Constitution and the electoral legislation”, and cause “social agitaton, public disobedience, disrespect for State bodies, and incitement to violence”. Hours later, Venancio Mondlane reacted by taking a tougher stance. He challenged the Public Prosecutor’s Office to arrest him and invited young Mozambicans “to come onto the streets to defend democracy”.
This Wednesday, Mondlane flew to the northern city of Nampula, where he led a popular march in which thousands of young people walked through the city centre. The march, which was broadcast live on Facebook, was interrupted by gunshots, apparently fired by police, minutes after it began. Nampula is Mozambique’s most populous province, where at least nine people were killed by police during protests against electoral fraud in the 2023 local elections.
Post-election tensions were already being felt, with various accusations of election fraud intended to benefit the ruling Frelimo Party. But Tuesday’s events made the situation more complicated and unpredictable.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement distributed to the press, summoning Venâncio Mondlane to refrain from declaring himself the winner of the presidential election.
Based on the official results announced so far by the election management bodies, and covering 10 of Mozambique’s 11 provinces, the Frelimo candidate, Daniel Chapo, is in first place with more than 60% of the votes nationally. Mondlane is in second place.
During the march, a young man was shot by the police. Source: Venâncio Mondlane’s Facebook page
However, Mondlane has, several times, declared himself the winner of the presidential election based on the parallel count of votes which he claims his team has carried out. Citing the same parallel count, Mondlane also claims that the extra-parliamentary party PODEMOS (Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique), which supports his candidacy, won the parliamentary election.
Using his Facebook page, where he has over half a million followers, Mondlane made a live broadcast, watched by hundreds of thousands of followers, repeating the claim that he had won the election, and taking a tougher line against the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Mondlane said that he now has results which show he won the election with more than 75% of the votes, “despite the ballot box stuffing”.
In these elections, local and international observers have reported cases of election fraud, including the head of the European Union’s Election Observation Mission in Mozambique, Laura Ballarín, who spoke of cases of ballot box stuffing. Nonetheless, the claim that Mondlane won the election with more than 75% of the votes, is quite impossible.
In modern, democratic elections, candidates do not win such enormous majorities anywhere in the world. In the Mozambican case, winning 75 per cent would not simply mean that Mondlane overwhelmed the other two opposition candidates but that he ate deeply into Frelimo’s base of support, and there is no evidence that this has happened.
“I am ready. You can arrest me. I’m not going to run away from this country”
In its statement, the Public Prosecutor’s Office said that “the self-proclamation of winners and the publication of information that has not been confirmed (by the election management bodies) could generate disinformation and incite the public to acts of violence”. But it has not ordered Mondlane’s arrest.
In the past, the Public Prosecutor’s Office did order the arrest of prominent opposition politicians, who were accused of inciting violence. The cases included the Renamo parliamentary deputies Jerónimo Malagueta, arrested in 2013 and António Muchanga, detained in 2014.
But Venancio Mondlane has a much higher profile than either Malagueta or Muchanga. Arresting Mondlane could increase post-election tensions, and even spark off a popular revolt, led by Mondlane’s supporters, who are mostly young people from urban areas.
This puts Mondlane in strong position, and so he has challenged the Public Prosecutor’s Office to order his arrest, while at the same time calling on young people to “take to the streets to defend democracy”.
“I am ready. If you think you want to come and arrest me for this, you can come”, he declared. “I am not going to run away from this country. I am not going to seek refuge anywhere”.
Last year, Mondlane mobilised many thousands of young Mozambicans to march through the streets of the capital, Maputo, to protest against the municipal election results which gave victory to the Frelimo candidates, although Mondlane had presented data from the parallel vote count which showed that the Renamo list, which he headed, had won. There should have been a Renamo majority in the Maputo municipal assembly, and Mondlane should have become the new mayor of Maputo.
Last year’s marches were mostly peaceful. Violence only erupted when the police tried to prevent the marches from happening (SN/SM/NM).
