Mozambique Elections: ‘Early bird’ swearing-in of Podemos MPs disrespects the dead – Mondlane

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Mozambique Elections: ‘Early bird’ swearing-in of Podemos MPs disrespects the dead – Mondlane

1:17 CAT | 08 Jan 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane said on Tuesday that the “early bird” swearing-in of Podemos MPs would be a disrespect to the memory of the people who died in the demonstrations contesting the election results.

“It is about the memory and respect of those who died for the cause, of those who have been fighting day and night since the election campaign until today on the streets and much more, that I would recommend that Podemos not take office in parliament at the rise of dawn. It’s a question of respect, first and foremost,” said Venâncio Mondlane in an open letter addressed yesterday to the leader of Podemos, the party that supported his candidacy.

The hitherto extra-parliamentary party Povo Otimista para o Desenvolvimento de Moçambique (Podemos), registered in May 2019 and made up of dissidents from the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), has seen its popularity rise since announcing its support for Mondlane’s presidential candidacy on 21 August, as a result of a “political agreement”, shortly after Mondlane had his coalition (CAD) rejected by the Constitutional Council for “irregularities”.

According to Mondlane, the swearing-in of Podemos MPs on 13 January, a process already confirmed by different party bodies, will violate the political agreement. This document is not yet public.

“I have never opposed taking office and sitting in parliament. I only object to this taking place in a more defeated manner, in which not even the principles of demand presented to the regime have been taken into account,” emphasises Mondlane in his letter, for whom, under the law, not taking office does not imply the loss of his mandate.

For Venâncio Mondlane, the swearing-in of Podemos MPs will “weaken the struggle”.

“The electoral process was fraudulent, and Podemos even lost around 90 parliamentary seats,” reads Mondlane’s letter, which gives the party leader three days to respond as to whether or not he will comply with some of the main clauses of the agreement.

In a statement distributed on Monday, days after Venâncio Mondlane’s advisor labelled the swearing-in a possible betrayal, Podemos accused Mondlane of “seriously” violating the pre-election agreement, rejecting any betrayal and stressing that the MPs will be sworn in.

Podemos is the result of dissidence by former Frelimo members. They called for more “economic inclusion” and left the ruling party at the time, citing “disenchantment” and different ambitions.

The results promulgated by the CC on the 23rd show that Podemos will be the largest opposition party in Mozambique in the next parliament, with 43 seats. This is a change from the status held by the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo) since the first multiparty elections in 1994.

Of the 250 seats that make up the parliament, Renamo has gone from 60, which it won in the 2019 legislative elections, to 28 parliamentarians.

Frelimo, in power since independence, maintained its parliamentary majority with 171 deputies.

In the presidential elections, the CC, the final court of appeal in electoral disputes, proclaimed Daniel Chapo, the Frelimo-backed candidate, as the winner with 65.17% of the vote.

Chapo’s election as Filipe Nyusi’s successor is, however, being contested on the streets, and the CC’s announcement has added to the chaos that the country has been experiencing since October, with pro-Mondlane demonstrators – a candidate who, according to the Constitutional Council, obtained only 24% of the vote, but claims victory – in protests demanding the “restoration of electoral truth”, with barricades, looting and clashes with the police.

Clashes between police and protesters have already left almost 300 people dead and more than 500 injured, according to civil society organisations monitoring the process.

Opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane wrote a letter to the leader of Podemos party, Albino Forquilha.
It’s a long letter, I can’t translate but in general, Mondlane is explaining to Podemos the meaning of the party taking the 43 seats rushing while the struggle is still… pic.twitter.com/zIGHrfRb0D

— Cídia Chissungo (@Cidiachissungo) January 8, 2025