MAPUTO, Mozambique
Election officials in Mozambique on Thursday announced that the ruling party, Frelimo, has won the country’s disputed elections extending its five-decade grip on power.
The party’s candidate, Daniel
Chapo, will replace President Filipe Nyusi, who is stepping down after the
maximum two terms.
Frelimo has ruled the country
since its independence from Portugal in 1975 and the polls were widely expected
to return it to power.
The electoral commission said
Chapo had won 70 per cent of the vote. His closest challenger, Venancio
Mondlane, who was backed by the Podemos party, got 20 per cent.
Mondlane displaced former rebel movement and opposition party, Renamo, whose candidate came in third this time around.
Daniel Chapo |
Amid claims of fraud and vote rigging from election observers and the opposition, there have been violent protests in several towns following the announcement of the results.
European Union election observers cast doubts on the integrity of the poll, saying it did not meet international standards.
They said there had been
“irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election
results”.
Opposition parties have also
cried fraud and nationwide protests on Monday called for by Podemos were
dispersed by police firing live rounds and tear gas.
Mondlane has again called for a nationwide strike, on Thursday and Friday, in protest against the alleged rigging.
Last week, two prominent party
figures, including Podemos’ lawyer, Elvino Dias, who was also Mondlane’s
advisor, were gunned in Maputo by unknown assailants, ratcheting up tensions.
There are fears now that the
protests could turn bloody.
Mondlane has until December to
contest the results. Chapo will be officially sworn into office in January.
The 9 October polls were also
parliamentary and provincial elections. In the legislative elections, Frelimo
also obtained a significant victory.
It secured the majority of
seats in the Assembly of the Republic, strengthening its political control in
Mozambique.
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