Clarkson Mambo
Mozambique appears poised to welcome its first “born free” president, following preliminary results from the 9 October elections that observers have described as competitive, orderly and peaceful.
Preliminary results released by the elections body, the National Electoral Commission (CNE) show that Daniel Chapo, representing the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), is leading the three other contenders for the post of Head of State.
The governing party and its presidential candidate won in key districts in provinces such as Cabo Delgado, Gaza, Manica, Maputo and Nampula as results continue to trickle in.
With final results expected within two weeks of Election Day, Chapo needs to win at least 50 percent of the vote to avoid going for a second runoff.
In second place is Venancio Mondlane, an independent candidate backed by Podemos, a smaller opposition party. He is a former senior Renamo official who resigned in May after being barred from contesting for the party presidency. His decision to contest as an independent is expected to split the Renamo vote, thereby weakening the opposition to Chapo’s election bid.
The other competitors are Ossufo Momade of the main opposition Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) and Lutero Simango, leader of the second biggest opposition party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).
Momade contested in the last polls in 2019 and lost to President Felipe Nyusi, after getting 22 percent of the vote against 74 percent for his competitor.
Chapo is a charismatic 47-year-old, who was born after the country’s independence in 1975, and looks set to secure Frelimo’s dominance in Mozambican politics.
The liberation party has won all the elections held since independence, with the past four Presidents Samora Machel, Joaquim Chissano, Armando Guebuza and Nyusi having come from the same party. Unlike, Chapo, the former leaders all participated in the country’s war of liberation.
Nyusi, who is the current President did not stand in this election as he served his statutory two terms in office.
A holder of a law degree, who previously worked as a radio and television presenter, Chapo who is affectionately known as Brother Dan, joined politics in 2009 and was later appointed administrator of Nacala-a-Velha District.
He became administrator of the Palma District in 2015, before President Nyusi elevated him to the post of governor of Inhambane Province in 2016, a post he held until 2024 when he resigned to focus on his campaign following his surprise selection as the governing party’s candidate.
Besides the presidential polls, Mozambicans also elected parliamentarians and provincial assembly representatives in an election in which 36 political parties registered to take part.
The House of Assembly in Mozambique is made up of 250 members who are elected through a system of party-list proportional representation based on the country’s provinces.
In the last elections, Frelimo got a two-thirds majority after winning184 seats, followed by Renamo with 60 and MDM which got six.
More than 17 million people living in and outside Mozambique registered to participate in the election described by the Southern African Development Community Electoral Observer Mission (SEOM) as “professionally organised, conducted in an orderly, peaceful and free atmosphere.”
“The mission commends the people of Mozambique for the political maturity, spirit of tolerance and calm which generally prevailed during this electoral period,” said head of the SEOM, Dr Amani Karume in an interim statement on the polls.
The SEOM lauded the resilience of people in Cabo Delgado province, which has been riddled with the menace of insurgency and terrorism for over five years, for participating in the democratic process thanks to support provided by armed forces from SADC and other countries that have helped quell the situation.
A group of observers from the Commonwealth described the general elections as “competitive.”
“Freedom of association and participation rights generally provided for and respected as voters were largely able to cast their ballots freely,” said Dr Kenny Anthony, the head of the Commonwealth Observer Group.
The observers lauded the high participation of women as both voters and polling officials, and the improvement in coverage given to contesting parties and candidates by all sections of the media.
“The participation of young people and women was remarkable, demonstrating the commitment of voters to exercising their democratic rights,” said Sala da Paz, a group of electoral observers with over 800 observers.
The polls faced a number of administrative challenges that saw a smaller number of the 8,737 polling stations fail to open on time due to delays in getting election materials and protests by unpaid electoral staff.
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The delays also affected voters at some of the polling stations set outside the country to enable more than 331,000 voters who were registered as staying abroad to exercise their constitutional rights.
Mozambique has a unique system of separate constituencies for the diaspora. According to CNE, the bulk of the polling stations were in seven countries in Africa, with others in two European countries -Germany and Portugal.
With vote counting continuing, political parties and their supporters have been urged to remain calm and patient until the official declaration of results by the CNE and their confirmation by the Constitutional Council, which is the highest body that deals with constitutional and electoral matters in Mozambique.
But even before the final results have been announced, the MDM, pointing to “many irregularities and manipulation”, says it has begun preparing to challenge the election results in court.
Mondlane on the other hand is claiming that he won the elections basing on his own party’s estimations. -Sardc.net
