Mozambique: ‘Nobody should impose their candidate for president’ – Chissano | Watch

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: ‘Nobody should impose their candidate for president’ – Chissano | Watch

5:32 CAT | 06 Nov 2024

Screen grab: TVM

Former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano recognised on Wednesday that the country is “going through a serious moment” and said that “nobody should impose their candidate” for president, chosen in elections, because “it is dangerously close to a coup d’état”.

“In January, the new President will take office. Let us await the results. No one should impose their candidate. Forcing their candidate is dangerously close to a coup d’état or taking power by unconstitutional means and this should not be accepted under any circumstances,” said Chissano, head of state from 1986 to 2005, in a message lasting almost 10 minutes released today.

The position comes at a time when Maputo is preparing for the announced national demonstration called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognize the results of the general elections of October 9 announced by the National Electoral Commission (CNE), which gave victory to Daniel Chapo, supported by the Liberation Front of Mozambique (Frelimo, the party in power since 1975), with 70.67% of the votes, but which still have to be validated by the Constitutional Council.

Today also marks the seventh day of strikes and demonstrations across the country, also called by Venâncio Mondlane against the election results, with the majority leading to police intervention, who dispersed them with gunfire and tear gas, while psome rotesters blocked avenues, threw stones and set fire to public and private facilities, as had already happened in the protests of 21, 24 and 25 October.

“But some interpretation must be made. There is a level of discontent that must be taken into account. Our country is large, our population is young, there are talents among many participants in politics, both in the old and new parties. We must take advantage of these talents. Elections are usually periods of increased conflict, but they can also serve to discover new talents to reflect again on the value of unity”, stated Chissano, in the same statement.

He added that “young people deserve more attention from the government”, although he stressed that “it will not be possible to solve everything right away”, but that “new initiatives must be developed to support housing for young people, for example”.

“Our country is going through a serious moment. Groups are demonstrating violently in the streets, burning tires, attacking stores. It seems that they want to create a climate of disorder in the country. All of this is happening because some of the candidates in the elections believe that they have already won even before the final results have been announced. We understand this frustration, but let us remain calm, there is no greater value than life. We have already lost too many lives. There has already been too much destruction”, he also stated.

“If I see unfair things and they exist, I think my candidate won because he denounced them, so if he doesn’t win, it’s because there was fraud. But the result of the elections is not dictated by what I think. Elections are the sum of several wills, mine and those of other compatriots. What I consider true is only true if it results from the sum of the opinions freely expressed by all citizens,” said Chissano, appealing for “calmness and balance.”

“It’s not good to say that only I am prepared because I was invested with some mission. This is true in some churches and religions, but elections are about governance, serving the people well, choosing the best employment policy, inventing ways to employ people, encouraging youth initiatives and providing the necessary support for them to become self-employed,” he said.

Source: Lusa / TVM