Mozambique Elections | Maputo: “Venâncio Mondlane’s strategy doesn’t stick”

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Mozambique Elections | Maputo: “Venâncio Mondlane’s strategy doesn’t stick”

7:09 CAT | 13 Dec 2023

Image: DW

The strike called by Venâncio Mondlane for this Monday in Maputo turned out to be a failure. Analysts advise the Renamo candidate to change his strategy for contesting the results of the local authorities.

Last Friday, Venâncio Mondlane, the Renamo candidate for the city of Maputo, challenged the population to paralyse commerce and other economic activities in protest against the official results of the municipal elections, which gave victory in the capital to Frelimo.

But the initiative did not receive the support expected. Yesterday was a normal day in Maputo. Commerce remained open and institutions operated without interruption in a peaceful environment. Only the rain in the capital made the residents’ chores a little more difficult than usual.

The boycott of the strike was already predictable, says university professor Hilário Chacate. “It coincided with an unfavourable temperature, but there are also other factors behind this failure. People are getting tired, and there is also a perception that all the mechanisms that should have been used to guarantee the desired electoral justice have already been exhausted,” he explains.

Is Mondlane “ill-advised”?

This understanding is shared by political analyst Ernesto Júnior, who recalls the economic context of many families in the city of Maputo.

“We have to understand what kind of population we have here. They are family men who depend a lot on informal work. To guarantee the next day’s meal, it is necessary to work the day before.”

Ernesto Júnior advises the Renamo politician to review his strategy. “Venâncio Mondlane’s strategy seems to no longer serve or resonate with his electorate,” he says.

Venaciofile.dw_ — *FILE – Venâncio Mondlane, head of the Renamo list in Maputo, claims victory in the capital, in the municipal elections on October 11th Photo: [File photo: DW/M. Mueia]*

Analyst Hilário Chacate notes that Mondlane’s action runs contrary to that of other colleagues in the party, who seem to want to turn the page on local elections. “He probably is not getting a clear reading of the scenario, and is being ill-advised. And there is a perception that there is a misalignment within Renamo itself,” Chacate says.

The largest opposition party, meanwhile, filed a criminal complaint against those responsible for the Mozambican electoral bodies, alleging “falsification and manipulation of results”. It is also suing the judges of the Constitutional Council, who “certified” the election results.

Ivan Maússe, a researcher at the Centre for Public Integrity, reiterates that “Venâncio Mondlane has to understand that the process has already ended”. It now remains “do the homework”, so that, in the next elections, “Renamo is victorious”.

Mozambique will go to the polls again for the general election in October next year.

Source: Deutsche Welle