The ruling party in Mozambique is ahead in early election returns, but the opposition is calling foul

While opposition parties denounced fraud and one called for a strike, Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo party was leading interim election results in all 11 regions on Wednesday.

Daniel Chapo, Frelimo’s presidential candidate, was predicted to win the election on October 9. Since taking power in 1975, the party has ruled Mozambique and has been often accused of election tampering, a charge it disputes.

On October 24, complete findings are anticipated.

On Monday, October 21, independent candidate Venancio Mondlane, who is seen as Chapo’s main rival, declared he was ahead based on his own count and demanded a statewide walkout.

“They (Frelimo) will not cede authority to anybody. During a video posted on his social media channels, Mondlane stated, “They want to continue to control power, finance, business, oil, gas, diamonds, and rubies.”

“To show that the people are actually ruling, we will paralyze all activity on Monday,” he stated.

Lutero Simango, a presidential candidate from the Democratic Movement of Mozambique, a tiny opposition party, declared he will file a legal challenge to the outcome.

A request for comment was not immediately answered by a Frelimo representative. Chapo urged people to maintain their composure while they await official results in statements made in public on Friday.

The poll, according to election observers, fell short of international norms for free and fair elections. Vote buying, intimidation, bloated voter rolls in Frelimo strongholds, inadequate openness in result collation, and other problems were documented by the International Republican Institute, a U.S.-based monitoring group.

Edson Cortez, director of the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican nongovernmental organization, stated, “Once again, as a nation, we held elections that… do not reflect, at least from what we have been observing, the will of the voters.”

Regarding those accusations, an electoral commission representative declined to comment.

Social media users shared videos of Wednesday’s street demonstrations in Nampula, a city in the north. The videos were not readily verifiable by Reuters.

Human rights organizations claim that Mozambique police have previously opened fire on political demonstrators, including following the local elections last year.