Maputo, 6 Nov (AIM) – If the Constitutional Council, Mozambique’s highest body in matters of constitutional and electoral law, does not approve the appeal by Renamo, the country’s largest opposition party, against the preliminary results from the municipal elections declared by the National Elections Commission (CNE), Renamo will step up its demonstrations “to restore the truth”, warned the Renamo candidate for mayor of Maputo, Venancio Mondlane, on Saturday.
He was speaking at a peaceful march through the streets of Maputo against the results. Unlike the violent confrontations of 27 October, there were no clashes with the police.
Renamo is placing its hopes on the Constitutional Council, which Mondlane hopes will recognize its victory in the capital. Independent observer groups have undertaken parallel vote counts from almost all the Maputo polling stations which show a convincing win for Renamo.
But if the Council did not correct the result announced by the CNE, “these marches are going to intensify”, he warned. Future marches will be “three, four, five, ten times larger than you see today. And then we shall be ready for everything”.
“Right now, we are just waiting for the decision”, said Mondlane. “I don’t have any hunches. Our expectation is that the Constitutional Council will decide to use and validate the original results sheets (“editais”) which Renamo has presented as the unequivocal proof of victory”.
Renamo will not accept any unfavourable decision from the Council, he said. Were the Council to reject the Renamo appeal, “that will not just be an electoral problem – it will show that the State itself is in crisis. And if the State is in crisis, it is necessary to reform the State”.
“That means that the next steps will not be simply for an electoral battle”, he stressed. “It will be a battle for the complete reform of the regime, for the fall of the regime, for the fall of this putrescent system of justice”.
But the next steps in the country’s political agenda are the presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2024. So far no candidates have formally announced that they intend to stand, and the Constitution bars the current President, Filipe Nyusi, from a third term of office.
Mondlane suggested that he might run for the Presidency. “This leap does not depend on my will”, he said. “I am a member of a party. It all depends on Renamo. The decision lies exclusively with the Renamo Political Commission”.
“For my part, I am ready for all the great challenges in defence of this people”, Mondlane added.
These words will certainly not be welcomed by Renamo leader Ossufo Momade.
It was generally believed that Momade would face no competition to become the Renamo presidential candidate. But there are certainly many in the party who would welcome a younger, more dynamic candidate, and Mondlane fits the bill.
Mondlane is a charismatic public speaker, and, thanks to his role as one of the most outspoken Renamo members of parliament, he is much better known to the general public than Momade.
(AIM)
Pf/ (510)