Post-electoral: Lawyers call for reflection about what ‘country wants’

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Post-electoral: Lawyers call for reflection about what ‘country wants’

9:04 CAT | 27 Dec 2024

File photo: O País

Mozambique’s Bar Association (OAM) called for a reflection on Thursday about “what we want from the country” in the face of the post-election protests and vandalism that escalated after the Constitutional Council announced the results.

“It’s time to stop and think about what we want from this country. We have to believe in the greatness of our nation and its people in order to overcome the current moment,” reads a statement from the OAM signed by Carlos Martins.

“We must abandon the presumption of an inglorious fate, in spirit and in hope. We must actively invest in a process of renewal of our values, beliefs and collective and individual objectives that will lead us to social justice, but above all, to the well-being of all,” adds the document sent to the media.

In Mozambique, especially in the city and province of Maputo, protests have intensified against the election results proclaimed by the CC, which attribute victory to the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) and its presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo.

The proclamation quickly turned the streets of Maputo into chaos. Barricades were set up on the main roads, and public and private infrastructure was vandalised, resulting in clashes between demonstrators and the Mozambican police.

The OAM warned of the “institutionalisation of anarchy” in the country, of collective fear and of “small radicalised private powers”, also criticising the actions of the Defence and Security Forces in the face of the destruction of public and private property during protests.

“The escape of prisoners from Machava Prison [Maputo Central Prison], the recovery of some and the slaughter that followed of some of these captured prisoners, unjustified considering that they were already in the hands and under the control of the authorities, in a deliberately criminal act, reveal in this unjustified, repugnant way of acting, a sick society, in which the leaders have lost their authority,” reads the message from Carlos Martins.

At least 252 people have died in the post-election demonstrations in Mozambique since 21 October, half of them just since the final results were announced on Monday, according to a new assessment made today by the Decide electoral platform.

According to the latest report from the Mozambican non-governmental organisation (NGO) that monitors the electoral processes, with data up to 09:00 (minus two hours in Lisbon) today, 125 people have died in these demonstrations since 23 December alone, 34 of them in Maputo province and 18 in the capital city, in the south of the country.

Since 21 October, the Decide electoral platform has recorded 569 people shot across the country, as well as 252 dead and six missing.

A further 4,175 people have been arrested since the start of the post-election protests, 137 of them since Monday.

On Monday afternoon, Mozambique’s Constitutional Council proclaimed Daniel Chapo, the candidate supported by the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), the election winner for President of the Republic. With 65.17% of the votes, Chapo succeeded Filipe Nyusi in office and won the general elections on 9 October, regaining Frelimo’s parliamentary majority.

At least 1,534 inmates escaped on Wednesday afternoon from Maputo’s maximum security Central Prison, said the police commander-general, claiming that it was a “premeditated” action and the responsibility of post-election demonstrators in which 33 people died.

Speaking on the social networking site Facebook, Venâncio Mondlane today accused the authorities of deliberately letting these prisoners out, intending to manipulate the masses and divert society’s focus.

Source: Lusa