Published January 13, 2025
By Obaro Becky
Mozambique is set to swear in its new parliament on Monday, following months of deadly protests over an election in October that the opposition said was rigged.
Opposition leader Venancio Mondlane has called on his supporters to hold peaceful protests from Monday to Wednesday, when Daniel Chapo is due to be installed as president.
Mondlane claims he won the presidential vote and that the results were rigged in favour of Chapo’s Frelimo party, which has been in power for 50 years.
Two opposition parties, Renamo and MDM, announced they would boycott Monday’s session, which will swear in new parliamentarians. Renamo won 28 seats in the 250-seat house and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM) took eight.
The opening ceremony “constitutes a social outrage and a lack of respect for the will of Mozambicans” who were deprived of “free, fair and transparent” elections, Renamo spokesman Marcial Macome told reporters Sunday.
The MDM was boycotting to show it aligned itself with demands for “electoral truth”, its representative said.
Frelimo won 171 seats and the Podemos party took 43.
Mondlane, who was backed by the Podemos at the vote, claims he won 53 percent of the votes in the presidential election. The official result says he won 24 percent to Chapo’s 65 percent.
Mondlane returned from more than two months of exile on Thursday last week to push his presidency claims.
Thousands of his supporters rallied in the capital to welcome him, sparking clashes with security forces that left at least three dead, according to an election monitor.
“We must declare a national strike… paralyse activities during these three days,” the 50-year-old said in a Facebook post late Saturday.
Urging supporters to “demonstrate our refusal” of the official election result, he called for a “peaceful mobilisation”, adding that “if the assembly takes the oath, it is a betrayal of the will of the people”.
“Let us demonstrate against the inauguration of those who betrayed the will of the people on Monday and against those who stole the will of the people on Wednesday,” Mondlane said.
The post-election unrest has claimed around 300 lives, according to a tally by a local rights group, with security forces accused of using excessive force, including live bullets, against demonstrators.
Some police officers have also died, according to the authorities.
The unrest has caused major losses to Mozambique’s economy, stopping cross-border trade and affecting shipping, mining and industry.
AFP
