Mozambique’s top court had on Monday confirmed the ruling party (Frelimo’s) victory in an October election, which sparked massive protests by opposition groups who claim the vote was rigged.
The country’s Constitutional Council has the final say over the electoral process and its ruling will likely incite further protests in Mozambique, a Southern African country with close to 35 million people that Frelimo has led since 1975.
Western political observers have said the election was not free and fair, and the post-election period brought about the biggest protests against Frelimo in Mozambique’s history.
At least 130 people have been killed in clashes with police, according to the civil society monitoring group Plataforma Decide.
In its final accounting, the Constitutional Council announced Chapo had secured about 65% of the vote, lower than the figure of more than 70% given by the electoral commission in late October. The Court also gave Frelimo fewer seats in the parliament than the electoral commission did, without explaining why it had made those changes.
Frelimo has consistently been accused by opponents and election observers of manipulating votes since the country’s first elections in 1994, although he has consistently denied those accusations.
A representative of opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, who the Constitutional Council had said came second in the presidential election with about 24% of the vote, had immediately rejected the results announced on Monday.
The post-election unrest/chaos has already affected the operations of foreign companies in the country, including the Australian mining firm South32 and led to the temporary closure of the main border crossing with neighbouring South Africa.
A senior International Monetary Fund official had also told Reuters that Mozambique’s 2024 economic growth would likely be below a previous 4.3% forecast because of the political unrest and the disastrous impact of this month’s Cyclone Chido which claimed almost 80 lives.
