
Maputo, 24 Out (AIM) – Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, has threatened to boycott next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections, if what it regards as “the real results” of the municipal elections held on 11 October are not published.
Renamo’s candidate for mayor of Maputo, Venancio Mondlane, told a Monday press conference, cited by the independent daily “O Pais”, that Renamo will not accept any results different from the parallel vote counts held by Renamo itself and by the observers of the “Mais Integridade” (“More Integrity”) civil society electoral coalition.
The “intermediate results” declared by the district elections commissions granted victory to the ruling Frelimo Party in 64 of the 65 municipalities. But the parallel counts show that Renamo won in major cities such as Maputo, Matola and Quelimane.
Furthermore, Mondlane added, Renamo would not agree to go into the next elections with the same people in the election management bodies, “who were responsible for falsifying the results, and for the election crimes that have been committed”.
Mondlane warned that Renamo will “fight to the end, alongside the people to achieve the electoral truth. The people are willing to do this. The youth are furious. We are not going to split away from the people until the electoral truth has been established”.
Mondlane urged the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) to arrest and prosecute all those involved in electoral fraud. He added that the National Elections Commission (CNE) should remove them from all positions in the electoral apparatus, replacing them with others, chosen on a basis of consensus.
On Tuesday, Mondlane led Renamo supporters through the streets of Maputo. This was the sixth march in the capital, demanding that Renamo’s victory be accepted.
The march was peaceful and good-natured, and Mondlane even praised the police accompanying the marchers for their positive attitude.
If Renamo does carry out its threat to boycott the 2024 elections, they will become a race between Frelimo and the second opposition party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) – unless the MDM joins the Renamo boycott.
A boycott would hit Renamo in the pocket, since the subsidy it receives from the state budget depends on the number of deputies it has in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.
(AIM)
Pf/ (377)