The Mozambican Workers’ Organisation – Central Trade Union (OTM-CS) – said on Sunday that the country was in suspense and anxiously awaiting the announcement of the results of Wednesday’s general elections, calling for calm and serenity.
“We are all in a country in suspense and anxiety, our appeal is to remain calm and serene until the definitive results are announced by the competent bodies,” said the secretary-general of the OTM-CC, Alexandre Munguambe.
Munguambe made this statement on the occasion of the 48th anniversary of the founding of Mozambique’s largest trade union organisation.
Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) has a deadline of 15 days to announce the results – counting from the date of the vote, which was on the 9th.
The Constitutional Council will then validate the results. There is no deadline for a final proclamation, and it still has to analyse the appeals received.
Mozambican workers and the population, in general, must not allow the wait for the results of the general elections to distract them from social and economic development actions, said the OTM-CS general secretary.
Alexandre Munguambe criticised the low salaries paid in the country, calling for a commitment to improving the salary situation of Mozambican workers.
“Workers receive minimum wages that are not up to challenging the current cost of living,” said Munguambe.
He pointed to the terrorist attacks in Cabo Delgado province, northern Mozambique, kidnappings and corruption as obstacles to development and workers’ lives.
According to Mozambican electoral legislation, on Wednesday, the evening of polling day for the general elections, the results were tabulated at the table level. This was followed by a period of up to three days for the official tabulation at the district level and up to five days after polling day for the provincial tabulation.
The general elections included the seventh presidential elections, for which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who has reached the two-term limit, is no longer running, as well as the seventh legislative and fourth elections for provincial assemblies and governors.
Running for the Presidency of the Republic were Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), which has been in power since 1975; Ossufo Momade, supported by Renamo; Lutero Simango, backed by the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), the third largest parliamentary force; and Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos).
