Mozambique’s ruling party, Frelimo, has won a divisive and violent election, extending its 49-year reign in the southern African country, according to official results.
Daniel Chapo, who was elected president of Frelimo and is considered an ambassador for change, will replace Filipe Nyusi, who has served two terms.
At the age of 47, Chapo, who received 71% of the vote, will be the first president born after independence in 1975. His closest competitor, Venancio Mondlane got 20%.
Chapo in his victory speech said: “We have been silent all this time, out of respect for the law.” We are a well-organized team that is preparing for its victory.”
After the announcement of the result, there were violent protests in several towns and cities people have been killed. There is also a lot of police in other areas.
This election is full of allegations of fraud and the killing of supporters of the opposition parties, which has led to protests across the country.
Zimbabwean President Mnangagwa, who has also been hit by allegations of electoral fraud in recent years, congratulated Chapo on his “remarkable victory” before the results were announced.
Ossufo Momade, a former candidate for the main opposition party Renamo, came third with 6%.
Political analyst Tomas Viera Mario told the BBC that Renamo had lost its “historic position” because Momade, 68, had failed to attract new voters.
The announced numbers surprised all voters, including some members and supporters of the ruling party, especially Frelimo’s landslide victory.
The deputy chairman of the electoral commission Fernando Mazanga, who was appointed by Renamo, said “the results are against the justice of the election”.
“These results do not represent reality,” he said.
The electoral commission says 43% of the more than 17 million voters are registered to vote.
Parliamentary and provincial elections are held at the same time as the presidential vote.
Frelimo won 195 out of 250 seats in parliament. The opposition party Podemos, which supports Mondlane for the presidency, got 31 seats and Renamo got 20 seats.
Frelimo also won all the provincial elections.
President Nyusi followed the results of the election with a televised address to the nation.
“With more than 70% of votes, I don’t see any teacher failing a student,” he said.
The election was seen as a turning point in a resource-rich country plagued by economic problems, corruption and poverty.
Mondlane had called for a national strike on Thursday complaining about allegations of fraud.
He said the protests would honor his lawyer and a party official who were shot dead last week in an incident he described as a politically motivated murder.
He said that he won this election even though the initial research shows that Chapo was in the lead.
Mondlane has until December to contest the results.
On Monday, he organized protests across the country, which were dispersed by police using live fire and tear gas.
The election has also been criticized by EU election observers, who say some results may have been doctored.
They said there were “mistakes during the counting and improper alteration of the election results”.
Political analyst, Adriano Nuvunga, has criticized what he calls a fraudulent election in Mozambique.
The electoral commission declined to comment on allegations of vote fraud, according to Reuters.
Chapo will be sworn in in January.
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