Mozambique: Marcelo congratulates Filipe Nyusi on his re-election

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Marcelo congratulates Filipe Nyusi on his re-election

3:23 CAT | 30 Oct 2019

File photo: Lusa

President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, yesterday congratulated Filipe Nyusi on his re-election as president of the Republic of Mozambique, highlighting the importance of relations between the two countries.

“President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa personally congratulated the President of the Republic of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, on his new mandate, underlining the importance of relations between the two brother countries,” a message posted on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic of Portugal reads.

The election results announced by the National Election Commission (CNE) on Sunday in Maputo gave the ruling Mozambican Liberation Front (Frelimo) a big advantage, its candidate, Filipe Nyusi, being re-elected for a second term as president with a first round tally of 73% of the vote.

Frelimo elected 184 of the 250 parliamentary deputies, or 73.6% of seats, with 60 (24%) being allocated to the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) and six seats (2.4%) to the Mozambique Democratic Movement. (MDM), the CNE announced.

In the presidential election, Filipe Nyusi was re-elected for a second term in the first round, with 73% of the votes. In second place was , Renamo’s candidate Ossufo Momade, with 21.88%, and in third place the MDM leader Daviz Simango with 4.38%.

Renamo, the main opposition party, and the MDM, Mozambique’s third-largest parliamentary force, both announced appeals to the Constitutional Council over the results of the general elections.

Renamo has already filed its appeal, calling for the cancellation of the results of the general election, and has called the ballot a “circus”.

“We want the annulment of the elections, because they were not elections. They were a caricature, a circus act,” Venâncio Mondlane, Renamo representative to the electoral bodies said.

Mondlane was speaking to reporters after Renamo handed over the election results appeal at the CNE.

“We did a survey of the extremely serious irregularities, illicit acts and even the crimes that occurred during the voter registration, the campaign, the voting and, lastly, the superlative shame that took place on the day of the results,” Mondlane said.

Renamo’s appeal yesterday collated the 155 complaints it filed in district courts against electoral wrongdoing, Mondlane added.

Illicit acts include the registration of minors and foreign voters, multiple voter registration in Gaza province, southern Mozambique.

The stuffing of ballot boxes with ballot papers out of the control of electoral bodies and the destruction of votes in favour of the opposition are also pointed out in the appeal.

The Portuguese government on Monday hailed the “civic participation” of candidates and political parties in the October 15 elections, expressing the hope that everyone would commit to genuine national reconciliation.

“The preservation of peace is essential for the prosperity of the Mozambican people and the sustainable development of the country. Portugal therefore hopes that all relevant players work towards genuine national reconciliation, including within the framework of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement signed last August 6,” the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Following the announcement by the Mozambican National Election Commission, the Portuguese government congratulated “all Mozambican candidates and political parties for their civic participation in an electoral act of major importance for the country’s future.”

It also congratulated President Filipe Nyusi for his re-election and Frelimo for its victory in the legislative and provincial elections, as well as the election of the new provincial governors.

Source: Lusa