Mozambique Elections: CTA criticises strike called by Venâncio Mondlane to contest election results

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Mozambique Elections: CTA criticises strike called by Venâncio Mondlane to contest election results

1:42 CAT | 18 Oct 2024

File photo: AIM

The Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) this Friday criticised the stoppage of activities called for by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, warning of the economic impact of political speeches in post-election periods.

“We are already worried about the situation of foreign exchange to meet imports and, on several occasions, we have warned that the economy suffers greatly from the excess of holidays and public holidays. This type of political speech only complicates things further,” president of the CTA Agostinho Vuma told Lusa.

The issue at stake is Venâncio Mondlane’s call for a strike called on Monday. Mondlane disputes the figures already announced by the district and provincial election commissions regarding the October 9 vote, figures that give an advantage to the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, the ruling party) and its presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo, with over 60% of the votes.

For the president of the CTA, the instability that the country experiences cyclically after elections poses a challenge to the economy, especially in a period that is “at a standstill” until, at least, the approval of a new Five-Year Plan next year.

“Post-election instability always has an impact on the economy and politicians need to be aware of this,” Agostinho Vuma stressed.

For Venâncio Mondlane, the strike would be “one of the windows of protest” against the results, which he described as “grossly fraudulent”.

“It is a basic right that every citizen has, to join a strike, whether in the private or public sector, if they want to. If they don’t want to, they don’t have to join, but if they want to, they can join. They don’t need anyone’s authorization,” insisted Mondlane, emphasising that it was a peaceful action.

“It is not a public demonstration attacking institutions. If that happens, it is outside the norm of what we want. It is just a stoppage of activities. That’s all, it is nothing more or less than that,” he added.

The general elections of October 9th included the seventh presidential elections – in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who reached the limit of two terms, no longer ran – simultaneously with the seventh legislative elections and the fourth elections for provincial assemblies and governors.

The National Electoral Commission (CNE) has 15 days, after the polls close, to announce the official results of the elections, that is, October 24th, and then it is up to the Constitutional Council to proclaim the results, after it has also considered any possible appeals, but without a specific timespan defined for this purpose.

Source: Lusa