The president of the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos) has said that it is possible that presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane may become party leader, after it posted election results that mean it will have seats in the next parliament.
“If Venâncio Mondlane actually becomes a member of the party, he could very well become president,” said Albino Forquilha, speaking at a news conference called to denounce alleged “fraud” in the general elections that took place on 9 October. “The [party] organs could vote in that direction.”
Results from some of the 11 constituencies for which results have already been released by provincial electoral bodies put Mondlane and the party that supported him, Podemos, as the one with the second largest number of votes in the presidential and legislative elections respectively, behind presidential candidate Daniel Chapo and the governing Frelimo party that backs him.
According to Mozambique’s law, the president of the party with the most votes in the legislative elections gains the status of leader of the opposition, with access to a budget and perks, as well as a seat on the country’s Council of State, the top advisory panel of the head of state.
Mondlane is not a member of Podemos, having only signed an alliance agreement under which it would support his candidacy in the presidential elections and his campaign would support the candidacy of that political force in the legislative elections.
Mondlane linked up with Podemos after CAD, a coalition of extra-parliamentary parties that had initially supported his presidential candidacy, was disqualified by the country’s Constitutional Council.
Mondlane had left the main opposition Renamo party earlier this year, after being prevented from running for party leader, amid a series of disagreements with the existing leadership.
Podemos, which was registered as a party in May 2019, was set up by dissident former members of Frelimo who had called for more “economic inclusion” and who left the governing party, citing “disenchantment” and their different ambitions for the country.
According to electoral legislation, the tabulation of provincial results must be finalised by the end of Monday, after the tabulation in the country’s 154 districts was completed over the weekend.
Publication of the results of the presidential election by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), if there is no second round, takes up to 15 days counting from the closing of the polls, before they are validated by the Constitutional Council, which has no deadlines for proclaiming the official results after analysing any appeals.
The vote included legislative seats (250 deputies) and seats for provincial assemblies and their respective provincial governors, in this case with 794 mandates to be distributed.
The CNE approved lists of 35 political parties running for parliament and 14 political parties and groups of voting citizens for the provincial assemblies.
