PREVIEW
Neighbouring governments are trying to mediate behind the scenes as the election dispute wreaks economic havoc
The crisis over the presidential election results has deepened following a prison riot in Maputo on Christmas Day. At least 30 were killed in clashes between inmates and guards, while an estimated 6,000 inmates escaped from custody. By New Years Eve, over 280 were said to have been killed in clashes around protests against the election results. South African officials have been trying to open a negotiating track but the opposition parties have little faith in their neutrality.
Police blamed the riots on ‘agitation’ by a ‘group of subversive protesters’ close to the prison which led to the collapse of a prison wall. On 23 December, Mozambique’s constitutional court declared Daniel Chapo, the candidate of the Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo), the winner of the 9 October presidential elections with around 65% of the vote (AC Vol 66 No 1, Frelimo falters as a people’s uprising gathers steam).
Yet the legitimacy of the elections has been widely questioned by international election observers. Their suspicions were heightened by the authorities’ refusal to investigate allegations of massive rigging, including tampering with vote tallies (AC Vol 65 No 21, Evidence of vote stealing mounts).
Venâncio Mondlane of the opposition Partido Otimista pelo Desinvolvimento de Moçambique (Podemos) – who was awarded 24% by the electoral commission – states that vote tallying by his officials show that he won the 9 October polls. But following the constitutional court’s ruling, Mondlane announced that he would hold his own unofficial presidential inauguration on 15 January.
Chapo is trying to get international acceptance of his mandate by hiring Unik Ernest, a Florida-based businessman. Ernest is meant ‘to promote nationwide acceptance of Mozambique’s democratic process and discourage protests and unrest, emphasizing stability, progress, and unity through public relations and media outreach.’ Given the current chaos in the country’s biggest cities, he will have an uphill task.
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