Mozambique braces for another week of election protests

MAPUTO, Mozambique

Mozambique fugitive presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane today called for a new phase of electoral contestation lasting one week, starting on Wednesday, in “all neighbourhoods” of Mozambique, with a stoppage of vehicle circulation from 8am to 4pm.

“All neighbourhoods are experiencing strong activity”, said Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the announced results of the general elections of October 9, in an intervention through his official account on the social network Facebook, calling for this new period of contestation from the 4th to the 11th of December.

“Concentrate in the neighbourhoods and on the main avenues that cross our neighbourhoods, – we don’t need to make long journeys – raising our signs”, said Venâncio Mondlane.

As happened from November 27th to 29th, the presidential candidate asks that vehicles stop driving from 8am to 3:30pm local time, followed by 30 minutes to sing the anthems of Mozambique and Africa in the streets.

“We are going to demonstrate uninterruptedly, without rest. It will be seven full days (…) All vehicles, everything that moves, remains stationary”, he said, asking motorists to paste protest posters on the vehicles that circulate until 5 a.m. and after 4 p.m..

In the same intervention, in which Mondlane called for the closing of the doors of several official institutions, he also demanded that tolls be “closed” during this week and advised the suspension of flights to the country.

“Because we are organizing our country, demonstrating at a national level, we would like a suspension – it is a recommendation, because we are not going to have festivities [Christmas and New Year’s Eve], there are no happy festivities when a people is sad, murdered, imprisoned ( …) -, to request that flights to and from Mozambique be suspended during this week”, said the candidate, also asking for all school activities to be stopped.

The announcement by the National Elections Commission (CNE) of Mozambique, on October 24, of the results of the October 9 elections, in which it attributed victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, party in power since 1975) in the election for President of the Republic, with 70.67% of the votes, triggered popular protests, called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane and which have degenerated into violent clashes with the police.

According to the CNE, Mondlane came in second place, with 20.32%, but it does not recognize the results, which still need to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.