Maputo – Mozambique’s main opposition leader, who has claimed victory in the October 9 presidential election, on Monday threatened to wreak “chaos and disorder” countrywide if a top court upholds official election results that he contests.
The Constitutional Council is due to confirm the results at least two weeks ahead of the January inauguration of Daniel Chapo, 47, the ruling party Frelimo’s candidate to succeed the outgoing President Filipe Nyusi.
The electoral commission reported that Chapo received nearly 71 percent of the vote, while Venancio Mondlane, 50, leader of the small Podemos party, came second with 20 percent.
But Mondlane contends a separate count found he received 53 percent of the vote, with Chapo only taking 36 percent.
“If we get the electoral truth, we will go towards peace. If it is an electoral lie, we will bring the country down to a precipice, chaos and disorder,” Mondlane warned in a live online broadcast.
He urged his supporters to “paralyse” the southern African country starting on Monday next week, the deadline for validating the results.
Unrest rocking the nation over the last two months has killed 130 people, according to the local civil society group Plataforma Decide, whose figures have been cited by Amnesty International.
Mondlane, a former radio host, called for a week of mourning before protests enter a fresh phase on Monday when “absolutely all activity in Mozambique must stop”.
Rights groups have accused Mozambique’s authorities of using excessive force on demonstrators in the impoverished country, which has been governed by Frelimo since independence from Portugal in 1975.
International observers have said the October election was marred by several irregularities.
Protests erupted with the double murder, days before the announcement of the results, of a lawyer and a political ally of Mondlane who were preparing a legal case to challenge the ballot on his behalf.
Protesters have staged blockades on the border with South Africa, disrupted two power plants and blocked mines, deepening the crisis in one of the poorest countries in the world.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
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