Protest activities and clashes between demonstrators and police have been reported in multiple locations across Mozambique after the National Electoral Commission (Comissao Nacional de Eleicoes, CNE) declared Thursday that the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) party won the country’s October 9 general elections.
According to CNE, Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo won the presidential race with more than 70 percent of the vote, and Frelimo secured 195 of the country’s 250 parliamentary seats. Opposition parties have alleged that fraud marred the elections.
Frelimo’s Daniel Chapo, 47, will succeed President Filipe Nyusi to become Mozambique’s fifth president since its independence from Portugal in 1975. Nyusi is stepping down after serving the maximum two terms.
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As the commission was announcing the results, crowds of Mondlane’s supporters gathered in various cities, including the capital Maputo and northern Nampula, with some brandishing placards with slogans such as “Tired of being the slaves of thieves”.
Police blocked their path into the centre of Maputo and fired tear gas along a main avenue where protesters had burned tyres and ripped up election posters, AFP reporters said.
Other protesters sought to block the road from the capital to the South African border.
Police said that clashes with protesters had left several injured across the country and reported one death in Nampula in the north.
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