Mozambique Elections: External interference will not be allowed- Nyusi

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Mozambique Elections: External interference will not be allowed- Nyusi

2:31 CAT | 21 Nov 2024

Filipe Nyusi, pictured here arriving in Harar yesterday, was talking to journalists at the extraordinary summit of heads of state and government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which took place on Wednesday. [Photo: Rádio Moçambique]

The President of Mozambique says he will not allow external interference in the country’s post-electoral process, which has been marked by challenges to the announced results and demonstrations that have degenerated into violence.

“We have made it clear that Mozambique will not allow outsiders to control our decisions,” Filipe Nyusi told journalists at the extraordinary summit of heads of state and government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which took place on Wednesday in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe.

“The future of Mozambique will be shaped by the Mozambicans themselves, so we ask our friends and international cooperation partners, those who are genuine friends (…), to calm this environment,” the head of state added.

“Respecting our institutions and not encouraging hatred and intolerance among Mozambicans,” he stressed, in an allusion to the fact that the Constitutional Council (CC) has not yet proclaimed the final results of the vote, which included presidential, legislative and provincial elections.

In his comments, Nyusi repeated the invitation to the four presidential candidates in the October 9 general elections to a post-electoral ‘pacification’ meeting, which he estimated could take place within a week.

“If they [the candidates] do not show up, it will be because they do not want to be part of the solution,” stated Nyusi.

On Tuesday, the Mozambican president said that the violent post-election demonstrations were causing “chaos”, and that “spreading fear in the streets” is weakening the country.

“I promise that, until the last day of my term, I will use all my energy to pacify Mozambique, I will use it. But for me to be successful in this mission, we need all of us and each one of you (…). Mozambicans must be together to solve the problems,” Nyusi said in a message to the nation about the “situation of the country in the post-election period”.

Calling for “liberation from selfishness” in this post-electoral process, the head of state, whose last term ends in January, promised that the government was “open” to, “together”, finding “a solution” for the current situation, marked by strikes and demonstrations called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the results of the general elections of October 9 announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), still to be validated by the CC.

“We need the different candidates for President of the Republic – the involvement of Lutero Simango, Daniel Chapo, Venâncio Mondlane and Ossufo Momade. We need the involvement of their collaborators and supporters. I would like to take this opportunity to invite all of them, those four I mentioned, the candidates, to accept my appeal to meet with the four of them, to jointly assess this situation and find a solution that benefits Mozambicans,” President Nyusi said.

The protests contest the awarding of victory to Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo, with an alleged 70.67% of the votes, according to the results announced on October 24 by the CNE.

Regarding these demonstrations, Nyusi stated that they did not comply with legal precepts, such as the “lack” of information about the “routes” by those who requested them, while the form of the call was designed to “create hatred and a desire for revenge” among Mozambicans, thus justifying the police intervention.

Source: Lusa