At least 2,500 people are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Mozambique’s new president, and the presence of invited heads of state has yet to be confirmed, an official source said.
“The invitations to international organisations went out on Friday, and we hope to have confirmations on Monday (…) We have sent the invitations to the entire Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union and some European heads of state,” including Portugal, declared the vice-president of the Interministerial Commission for Major Events, Eldevina Materula, from Independence Square, where the ceremony will take place.
On 2 January, Mozambique’s Constitutional Council (CC) officially set 15 January as the date for the inauguration of the new president, who will succeed Filipe Nyusi, according to a resolution distributed today by that body.
The CC, the final court of appeal in electoral disputes, proclaimed Daniel Chapo, the candidate supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), as the winner of the presidential election, with 65.17% of the votes, succeeding Filipe Nyusi in office, as well as the victory of Frelimo, which retained its parliamentary majority, in the general elections on 9 October.
His election is, however, being contested on the streets. The CC’s announcement has added to the chaos that the country has been experiencing since October, with pro-Venâncio Mondlane demonstrators – a candidate who, according to the Constitutional Council, obtained only 24% of the votes but who claims victory – in protests demanding the “restoration of electoral truth”, with barricades, looting and clashes with the police, who have been firing shots in an attempt to demobilise them.
According to the vice-president of the Interministerial Commission for Major Events, of the Republic of Mozambique Police said the event would take place safely.
“Security issues have been properly addressed. The Ministry of the Interior said so,” she emphasised.
Clashes between the police and protesters have led to almost 300 deaths, and more than 500 people have been injured by gunfire, according to civil society organisations monitoring the process.
In addition to Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), in the run-up to Ponta Vermelha (the official residence of the President of the Republic), Chapo faced Ossufo Momade (who got 6.62%), leader and supported by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), the main opposition force, and Lutero Simango (who got 4.02%), supported and president of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique, in the elections on 9 October.
Lusa
