The leader of the extra-parliamentary Podemos party in Mozambique on Thursday called on the institutions of justice to “dignify the vote” cast for his party, saying that it was “fighting for justice” and that no party had won 195 seats in parliament.
“Those who cast their votes know what they did and the results that come out should be close to reality, but in these elections 195 seats for one party didn’t happen and we have to be fair,” declared the leader of the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos), Albano Forquilha.
At a press conference in Maputo to take stock of the meeting with the commander of the Republic of Mozambique Police (PRM), Forquilha asked the Constitutional Council (CC) to “do its job” in order to end the “apparent” tension between the police and the demonstrators.
“All we are asking is that the institutions that administer justice carry out a job that dignifies the vote that the Mozambican people have placed in the political parties and this is also the job of the police, to defend that this sovereignty of the people to whom it has been attributed is maintained,” argued the leader of Podemos, calling for “fair positions” from the CC.
“As a party, following the rule, we made a general challenge to the CC, but as we know, it’s the one that approves judgements that don’t have recourse to appeal and maybe this is the part that gives Podemos and the police a hard time. What are we going to do if we wait for the CC to make its decision, even if it’s unfair, and there can be no further appeals?” he asked, insisting that the Constitutional Council must “respect the vote of the people”.
Also at the press conference, Albano Forquilha promised to curb violence during the demonstrations and asked for police collaboration to identify ‘infiltrators’.
“I have to say, there are even suspicions that I have of other political forces perhaps infiltrating […], that exists, but if we are together we may well be able to identify who is doing it,” concluded Forquilha.
Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for a week-long general strike in Mozambique starting today, demonstrations at the district offices of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) and marches to Maputo on 7 November.
Mozambique’s National Electoral Commission (CNE) announced on the 24th the victory of Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the 9 October election for country’s president, with 70.67% of the vote.
Venâncio Mondlane, supported by Podemos (a non-parliamentary party), came second with 20.32%, but said he did not recognise these results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.
Frelimo also strengthened its parliamentary majority, from 184 to 195 MPs (out of 250), and elected all 10 of the country’s provincial governors.
In addition to Mondlane, the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, currently the largest opposition party), Ossufo Momade, one of the four presidential candidates, said that he did not recognise the results and called for the vote to be annulled, and presidential candidate Lutero Simango, supported by the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM), also rejected the results, considering that they had been “forged in the secretariat”, and promised “political and legal action” to restore the “will of the people”.
The demonstrations called by Mondlane on the 21st, 24th and 25th degenerated into clashes with the police, resulting in at least 10 deaths, dozens of injuries and 500 detainees, according to the Centre for Public Integrity, a Mozambican non-governmental organisation that monitors electoral processes.
Lusa
