Presidential candidate and incumbent Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi is seen delivering a speech at a campaign rally in Matola, Mozambique, on Oct. 12, 2019. Mr. Nyusi's Felimo party won 184 seats in the 250-seat Assembly of the Republic.GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has been re-elected with 73 per cent of the vote and his Frelimo party will have 74 per cent of seats in parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, according to official results announced on Sunday after elections on Oct. 15.
The main opposition party, Renamo, has rejected the results, alleging the elections were marked by fraud and intimidation.
After drawing enthusiastic crowds during the campaign, Renamo candidate Ossufo Momade took 22 per cent of the vote, according to Mozambique’s electoral commission, which reported an overall voter turnout of 51 per cent.
In the 250-seat Assembly, Frelimo won 184 seats, Renamo 60 seats and the MDM party got six seats.
Renamo failed to win a single province in a vote where provincial governors were directly elected for the first time.
Frelimo will continue to govern all 10 provinces, which elected provincial assemblies. One province, Maputo city, did not elect a provincial assembly to avoid duplicating the municipal government, which is also run by Frelimo.
The result leaves Frelimo “stronger than ever,” said businessman and activist Erik Charas, who founded the independent newspaper A Verdade.
“A third term is possible,” despite the constitution limiting the President to two terms, Mr. Charas said. A two-thirds majority in the Assembly would allow Frelimo to change the constitution without needing the agreement of the opposition.
Opposition parties, including the third-largest party, MDM, boycotted the announcement of the results. Renamo’s Mr. Momade last week called on Mozambicans not to respect the result.
International observers raised concerns about the credibility of the results. The U.S. embassy said its observers “witnessed a number of irregularities and vulnerabilities during the voting and the first stages of the tabulation process.”
Some results in the southern province of Gaza, where the election authorities registered 300,000 more voters than a recent census said lived in the province, “strained credulity,” according to the U.S. statement.
An observer mission sent by the EU said the elections were conducted in a “climate of fear,” which was made worse when a leading Mozambican observer was killed in Gaza a week before the poll and police were arrested for the killing. A top Renamo official and her husband were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the province of Tete a day before the vote.
The EU mission said the campaign occurred on “an unlevel playing field,” where “the ruling party … benefited from the advantages of incumbency, including unjustified use of state resources,” forcing civil servants and teachers to participate in campaign activities.
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