Mozambique Elections: Presidential candidate Mondlane ‘may become leader’ of Podemos

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Mozambique Elections: Presidential candidate Mondlane ‘may become leader’ of Podemos

12:35 CAT | 15 Oct 2024

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

The president of the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos) has said that it is possible that presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane may become the party’s leader, after it posted election results that mean it will have seats in the next parliament.

“If Venâncio Mondlane actually becomes a member of the party, he could very well become president (…) The bodies could vote in that direction,” Albino Forquilha told a press conference called to denounce alleged “fraud” in the October 9 general elections.

Results from some of the 11 Mozambican electoral districts already released by the provincial electoral bodies place Venâncio Mondlane and the party that supports him, Podemos, as the second most popular in the presidential and legislative elections behind Daniel Chapo and the party that supports him, the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo), the ruling party.

According to Mozambican law, the president of the party with the most votes in the legislative elections gains the status of leader of the opposition, having access to a budget and benefits, as well as a seat on the Council of State.

Venâncio Mondlane is not a member of Podemos, having only signed an alliance agreement for this party to support his candidacy in the presidential elections and for the Podmeos’ candidacy in the legislative elections.

Mondlane joined forces with Podemos after the CAD, a coalition of extra-parliamentary parties that supported his presidential candidacy, was disqualified by the Constitutional Council (CC).

Mondlane left the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo), currently the main opposition party, this year, after being prevented from running for president of the organisation, in a context of disagreements with the leadership of that political party.

Podemos, registered in May 2019, is the result of a split by former members of Frelimo, who called for greater “economic inclusion”, and left the ruling party claiming, at the time, “disenchantment” and differing ambitions.

According to electoral legislation, the provincial results should be counted by the end of Monday, with the count at the level of the country’s 154 districts having been completed over the weekend.

The publication of the results of the presidential election by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), if there is no second round, takes up to 15 days (counted after the polls close), before they are sent for validation by the Constitutional Council, which has no deadline to proclaim the official results after analysing possible appeals.

The vote included elections for the National parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, (250 deputies) and for provincial assemblies and their respective provincial governors, in this case with 794 mandates to be distributed.

The CNE approved lists of 35 political parties running for the Assembly of the Republic and 14 political parties and groups of citizens voting for the provincial assemblies.