Mozambique's President elect, Filipe Nyusi |
By Our Correspondent, MAPUTO Mozambique
Mozambique's
President Filipe Nyusi has
been re-elected after a landslide victory, official results announced
on Sunday confirmed.
The
elections took place earlier this month and Sunday's
announcement revealed Nyusi won with 73% of the vote.
In
a speech given to cheering supporters in the capital Maputo, Nyusi said he
would further develop Mozambique and hasten the implementation of a
two-month-old peace deal with Renamo — a rebel group turned opposition
party.
"I will
work so that we can have a prosperous, equitable and fair Mozambique," he
told the crowd, who also were in attendance with vuvuzelas. "In these
elections, the Mozambican people won."
The
opposition party (Renamo) has disputed the legitimacy of the results, claiming
fraud and intimidation tactics were deployed by Nyusi's ruling party.
Frelimo won
184 seats, with Renamo securing 60 seats and the MDM party getting the
remaining six in the National Assembly.
Voter turnout
was at 51%, according to the electoral commission.
The result
means Frelimo are "stronger than ever," said businessman and activist,
Erik Charas, who founded the independent free newspaper A Verdade. "A third
term is possible," he added, despite the constitution curbing a president
to a maximum two terms.
But
a two-thirds majority in parliament would allow Frelimo to re-adjust the
constitution without needing the agreement of the opposition.
The US
Embassy joined in the skepticism over the result, saying its observers
"witnessed a number of irregularities and vulnerabilities during the
voting and the first stages of the tabulation process."
The peace
deal signed between Frelimo and Renamo in August sought to end a
long history of conflict, including a 1975-1992 civil war that saw nearly
a million people killed.
In the
deal Frelimo agreed to allow Mozambique's 10 provinces elect
governors for the first time.
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