A 47-year-old lawyer, Daniel Chapo, is to become Mozambique’s next president, after claiming victory in this month’s national elections for the ruling Frelimo party.
Frelimo says it won at least 70 percent of the vote, according to multiple media reports, however the opposition Podemos party says the poll was rigged, while European Union observers detected irregularities as ballots were counted. The EU mission says local and district-level counts were also altered.
Even election officials are surprised. “These results do not represent the reality,” the deputy chairperson of the electoral commission, Fernando Mazanga, told the BBC.
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Vote tampering has been common in Mozambique multi-party elections were first permitted by Frelimo 30 years ago.
Venancio Mondlane, the leader of Podemos and a former radio DJ said to have the ear of the country’s youth, is also claiming victory in the polls and has called for work stoppages and national protests today and tomorrow. The party’s supporters already clashed with police earlier this week, following the killing of two Podemos officials.
Observers fear that the security situation in Mozambique will deteriorate. “Given the conduct of security forces over the past years … I have reasons to be concerned about what the security forces might do to protesters,” Human Rights Watch researcher Zenaida Machado told the Guardian.
