Mozambique Elections: Nyusi convenes Council of State, meeting underway

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Mozambique Elections: Nyusi convenes Council of State, meeting underway

12:25 CAT | 11 Dec 2024

Photo: Luisa Nhantumbo/Lusa

The Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, is meeting this morning with the Council of State to analyse the post-election situation in the country, marked by consecutive demonstrations and strikes since 21 October, which have caused at least 110 deaths.

“The theme we suggest for this meeting is the reflection or assessment of the country’s political situation”, stated Filipe Nyusi, when opening the meeting, which has been taking place since shortly after 10:00 local time at the Presidency of the Republic, in Maputo, in the presence of advisers such as former Presidents Joaquim Chissano and Armando Guebuza, or the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) Ossufo Momade.

In his introduction, the Mozambican President said that “three presentations” would be made at the meeting, before the debate with the advisors, which would not be limited “only to the post-election situation”, hoping that “some reflection would also be made on the fight against terrorism in the north”.

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The Council of State meeting began without the presence of other advisors, such as the first Minister of Defence of Mozambique, Alberto Joaquim Chipande, or the politician and activist Graça Machel, and it was announced that a statement with the conclusions would be issued at the end of the meeting.

According to the Constitution of the Republic, the Council of State is the political advisory body of the President of the Republic and includes several personalities, such as the president and former presidents of the Assembly of the Republic, the prime minister, the president of the Constitutional Council, the ombudsman, and former presidents of the Republic.

It also includes seven individuals of recognized merit elected by the Assembly of the Republic and four individuals nominated by the President of the Republic, as well as the second most voted candidate for the position of President of the Republic, who in the 2019 elections was Ossufo Momade.

The Council of State is responsible for “advising the President of the Republic in the exercise of his functions whenever he so requests”, as well as “obligatory pronouncements” on issues such as the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, declaration of war, a state of siege or a state of emergency, holding a referendum and calling general elections.

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At least 110 people have died in post-election demonstrations in Mozambique since October 21, according to an updated report released on Tuesday by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Electoral Platform Decide.

According to the Mozambican electoral monitoring platform, from December 4 to 10 alone, in the current phase of demonstrations, which ends today, there have been 34 deaths, 149 arrests and 89 people shot.

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for a new phase of electoral protests lasting a week, from December 4 to 11, in “all neighborhoods” of Mozambique, with a stoppage of car traffic from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm –

As happened in the previous phase of protests, from 27 to 29 November, the presidential candidate asked that vehicles stop circulating from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm (two hours less in Lisbon), followed by 30 minutes to sing the national anthems of Mozambique and Africa in the streets, which has been happening in recent days, including again today, in several central arteries, particularly in Maputo, with several barricades set up.

The announcement by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) of Mozambique, on 24 October, of the results of the elections of 9 October, in which it attributed the victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975) in the election for President of the Republic, with 70.67% of the votes, sparked popular protests, called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, which have degenerated into violent clashes with the police.

According to the CNE, Mondlane came in second place, with 20.32%, but it does not recognize the results, which still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.

Source: Lusa