Mozambique Elections: Presidential candidates’ meeting lasts minutes as Mondlane absent

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Mozambique Elections: Presidential candidates’ meeting lasts minutes as Mondlane absent

10:02 CAT | 27 Nov 2024

Photo: Lusa

The meeting called by the president of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, with the four candidates who stood in last month’s presidential elections, called to discuss the post-election situation amid widespread contestation of the official results, began on Tuesday afternoon in Maputo but without the presence of the most high-profile opposition figure, Venâncio Mondlane.

The meeting, in the office of the head of state, started at around 4 p.m., with only Daniel Chapo, who was backed by the governing Frelimo party, Ossufo Momade, leader of Renamo, which was the largest party in the last parliament, and Lutero Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).

The meeting only lasted a few minutes before it was announced that a second meeting would be scheduled, in a format to be announced, after Momade and Simango insisted that it was necessary for Mondlane to be present.

“We will change, we will try to find a way. We will not tire, we Mozambicans have to solve our problem. We will see what format we will define now, we can start with the format one by one”, said the head of state, at the end of the meeting.

Regarding the absence of Venâncio Mondlane, who has called for successive demonstrations to contest the results announced in the general elections of October 9th – which still have to be validated by the Constitutional Council (CC) -, Nyusi assured: “He was not expelled from Mozambique. There is no reason for him not to be in Mozambique now. If there are legal reasons, he could raise this issue so that we can say that we need to talk”.

“If he were in a known place, perhaps I would even suggest to this team that is interested in resolving the problem that we go and meet him there. But nobody knows where he is”, Nyusi added.

The Mozambican President insisted that, in his consultations with society in recent weeks, the idea that “violent demonstrations” or “taking advantage of the current situation to promote disorder in the country” was common.

Nevertheless, Nyusi stressed that time is “tight” and that it is necessary to “manage the moment”, with “thought-out and structured decisions”. Nyusi ended by guaranteeing that he will contact all candidates again for the new format of the meeting.

“But we will make every effort to ensure that he is here”, he assured, referring to the presence of Venâncio Mondlane at a new meeting.

The CC stated on Monday that it is “working hard” to achieve the “electoral truth” about the general elections in October, anticipating the proclamation of the final results around 23 December.

In a rare statement, signed by the president of that body, Lúcia Ribeiro, and which also highlights that it is an “exception” to the CC’s practice, justified by the “current moment of social alarm” and “great expectations in society”, it is recalled that the legislation does not set “any deadline for the conclusion of the process of validation and proclamation of the election results”.

However, it also highlights that the Constitution of the Republic provides that the first session of the Assembly of the Republic “shall take place up to 20 days after the proclamation of the election results”.

“Taking into account the fact that the current legislature took office on January 12, 2020 and that it (…) lasts for five years, we are faced with a constitutional time constraint that requires its strict observance by this body”, the statement reads.

Given the 20-day deadline and the end of the current legislature on January 12, the CC statement foresees in practice a date around December 23 – which is not specified in the statement – as the deadline for announcing the results of the general elections – legislative, presidential and provincial –, almost two months after the announcement made by the National Elections Commission (CNE) on October 24.

Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has called for these demonstrations, which have degenerated into clashes with the police – who have resorted to firing tear gas and gunshots to disperse the protests – as a way of contesting the awarding of victory to Daniel Chapo, a candidate supported by the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, in power), with 70.67% of the votes, according to the results announced on October 24 by the CNE, which have yet to be validated and proclaimed by the CC.

Source: Lusa