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Mozambique Elections: Police use tear gas against election protestors in Maputo – Photos
3:32 CAT | 27 Oct 2023
All photos: Luisa Nhantumbo/Lusa
Police in Maputo have today fired tear gas at thousands of people demonstrating against the results of the local elections announced yesterday by the National Election Commission (CNE).
The protesters were taking part in a march called by the leader of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the largest opposition party) Venâncio Mondlane, who claims to have won the election on October 11, and tried to march on the Constitutional Council premises.
At around 11:30 a.m., the march was stopped by the positioning of several armoured police vehicles and then by the launch of tear gas, to which the protesters responded by throwing stones.
At least one person was injured, hit during the release of tear gas by the police, Lusa established.
“The police cannot be against the people (…) The police are defending the party in power”, complained Juma Mussa, injured during the protest, while awaiting transport to the hospital for treatment.
Other people required assistance after being affected by tear gas fired by the police.
“I ask for water”, appealed an informal seller, hit by the gas, while others rebelled against police action.
“This is the way to rule this?”, asked Mário Pinto, a resident next to Avenida 24 de Julho, surprised by the shots.
On that central avenue in Maputo, traffic is now heavily restricted by the police and most businesses are closed.
At 2:30 pm local time , the main body of the demonstration was demobilized, but tensions with the police persist throughout the capital, including burning tires and containers.
It is not clear who the civilians Gunmen are, though they are thought to be from a police intelligence unit. The situation is calm at the moment but it is unpredictable what might happen in the coming days and in opposition stronghold towns like Nampula and Quelimane
— Borges Nhamirre (@BorgesNhamirre) October 27, 2023
Venâncio Mondlane yesterday had appealed to the public to “stop everything” today and protest against the “murder of democracy” after the announcement of Frelimo electoral victory in practically all municipalities in the country.
“We stop all public and private activity [on Friday],” Mondlane said in a message released shortly after Carlos Matsinhe, president of the CNE, announced, late on Thursday afternoon, the victory of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo) in 64 of the 65 municipalities in the municipal elections on October 11, including Maputo, confirming the results of the intermediate count, strongly contested by observers, civil society organizations and opposition parties.
READ: Mozambique Elections: CNE declares Frelimo victory in all municipalities except Beira – AIM report
Carlos Matsinhe, who read the minutes of the results, stated that eight members of the National Elections Commission (CNE) had voted in favour of the general count, five against and two – including the president of the institution himself – had abstained
Several courts across the country had annulled procedures, including three in Maputo, and ordered the electoral process to be repeated in recent days, but the results announced yesterday by the CNE remained practically unchanged compared to the intermediate count.
The Renamo candidate for the capital appealed to the population to “cancel everything” from 9:00 a.m. this Friday for a “mega-concentration” for “the celebration of the truth”, expecting an attendance of “60,000 people, 60,000 revolutionaries.”
“The direct and clear objective is Renamo’s political genocide. And if the people do not react, in 2024, to definitively eliminate Renamo, eliminate democracy,” he stated, alluding to the general elections to be held next year and to the announcement by the CNE that the largest opposition party had lost all eight local authorities it previously led in the country.
On the day the results of local elections considered fraudulent were announced, Maputo dressed in ammunition and bullets. The regime shows up symbols of violence. Tomorrow, the opposition wants to gather 60 thousand in Maputo downtown. Blood or tolerance? pic.twitter.com/PqueQJ5Zyb
— Marcelo Mosse (@MarceloMosse) October 26, 2023
Frelimo’s list leader in Maputo, Razaque Manhique, was announced on Thursday by the CNE as the winner of the municipal elections in the capital, with 58.78%. According to Mozambican electoral legislation, the results of the ballot will still have to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council (CC), the country’s highest judicial electoral body.
The Maputo municipality has always been led by Frelimo, but Venâncio Mondlane claimed victory in these elections, with 53% of the votes, based on parallel counting based on the original notices and minutes of the polling stations.
“The numbers are in favour of Renamo,” the Renamo candidate proclaimed, saying he was in possession of all the original documents.
Today’s Renamo rally in Maputo is arranged for the Praça dos Trabalhadores in the centre of the capital, followed by the presentation of “intelligent measures” to “defend the result and electoral truth”.
“We won’t need to pick up sticks, break institutions, break glass,” Mondlane promised.
On Wednesday, the Renamo president Ossufo Momade, and that of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM – which maintained the Beira municipality), Lutero Simango, said that they would fight “together to save democracy”, insisting that the local elections on the 11th were the “pinnacle” of electoral fraud.
Maputo this morning as people turned in big numbers to protest the fraudulent electoral results. ✊🏽✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/f0KkioT0Tr
— Prof. Dr. Adriano Nuvunga (@adriano_nuvunga) October 27, 2023
Source: Lusa
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