Mozambique Elections: Candidate Mondlane says Constitutional Council will determine peace or chaos – Lusa report | Watch

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Mozambique Elections: Candidate Mondlane says Constitutional Council will determine peace or chaos – Lusa report | Watch

2:28 CAT | 17 Dec 2024

Screen grab: Venâncio Mondlane / Facebook

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane said yesterday that the announcement of the results of the general elections by the Constitutional Council (CC), expected to take place on December 23, will determine whether Mozambique “moves towards peace or chaos”.

“If we have electoral truth, we will move towards peace; if we have electoral lies, we will [with the announcement of the results] lead the country to fall into chaos,” warned Venâncio Mondlane, presidential candidate in the October 9 general elections, who does not recognize the results announced by the National Electoral Commission still to be validated by the CC by next Monday, 20 days before the end of the current parliamentary term.

Venâncio Mondlane insisted, in a live broadcast on his Facebook account, that the “words that will come out of the mouth” of the presiding judge of the CC, Lúcia Ribeiro, will “determine whether the country will move towards tranquillity or towards the precipice”.

“On Monday, December 23, all activity in Mozambique must stop. Absolutely all activity. It is a day when we will not have any work activity (…). We will stay at home to hear the ruling of the Constitutional Council,” he appealed in the same speech.

The presidential candidate had promised to announce new demonstrations on this Monday to contest the election results, but he only asked for four days of mourning, starting on Thursday, with a stoppage of activities from 1:00 pm to 1:15 pm local time to sing the national anthem in the streets or in the workplaces, to pay tribute to the “heroes of modern democracy”, alluding to the 130 fatal victims of the protests since October 21.

In addition, Mondlane also admitted that the priority in the coming days in Mozambique should be to provide support and “solidarity” to the population of Cabo Delgado, affected by Cyclone Chido since Sunday.

“We will not hold street demonstrations, we will not block traffic, we will dress in black for those who mourn in black and we will dress in white for those who mourn in white,” he said.

At least 130 people have died and 385 people have been shot in post-election demonstrations in Mozambique since October 21 according to the report made on Sunday by the Decide Electoral Platform, which monitors electoral processes in Mozambique.
According to the NGO report, with data up to December 15, there are records of 3,636 arrests, five missing people and more than 2,000 injured in the demonstrations contesting the announced results of the general elections of October 9.

In recent days, the most publicized case was that of a young man who was shot while filming live footage of police operations against protesters at the border of Ressano Garcia, Maputo province, and who died in hospital on Thursday night.

The live footage of the young man filming police operations against protesters at the border of Ressano Garcia sparked popular outrage in the hours that followed, with protesters setting fire to infrastructure.

On Saturday, during the young man’s funeral, new deadly clashes with the police were recorded.

The young man, an internet content producer, was live on the social network Facebook when he was shot, minutes after recording the moment when police forces opened fire to disperse a group of protesters near the main border between Mozambique and South Africa: Ressano Garcia.

The October 9 election results announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE) gave victory to Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo, with 70.67% of the vote, but this result still needs to be validated by the Constitutional Council, the final court of appeal in electoral disputes.

Mondlane once again promised that he will take office as the fifth President of Mozambique on January 15, the date scheduled for the inauguration of the new head of state.

Source: Lusa