from ARMANDO DOMINGOS in Maputo, Mozambique
Mozambique Bureau
MAPUTO, (CAJ News) – THE Constitutional Council confirmed on Monday the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) presidential candidate Daniel Chapo as the winner of the hotly disputed October polls.
Although the country’s electoral court upheld FRELIMO’s initial victory, it however indicated Chapo actually won 65 percent of the total vote as opposed to the previously 70 percent outcome announced by the National Election Commission (CNE).
The court also awarded main opposition Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS) leader Venancio Mondlane with four additional percentages in the elections that brought to a total of 24 percent vote share.
Although the court made its final ruling, opposition activists vowed to continue demonstrations in their marathon protest while demanding FRELIMO relinquished power to the youthful opposition leader Mondlane.
Earlier Mondlane had called for a five day shutdown protest just before the predictable announcement was made by the Constitutional Council.
Since the announcement of the polls in October, the country has been set ablaze on fire as the disgruntled youthful voters accused FRELIMO of rigging the elections.
The Constitutional Council, which has the mandate to determine the final outcome over the electoral process, urged the contestants to accept the outcomes.
Adding fire to the ongoing protests, Western observers earlier issued their statement in October claiming the Mozambique polls were not free and fair arguing the post-election period has been uneven.
More than 100 people have to date been killed in clashes with police. The protesters demand Mondlane to be installed as the new country’s president.
FRELIMO and country’s new leader Chapo told the gathering that his first term would be channeled towards improving the general populace’s livelihoods of Mozambicans.
Commenting on the electoral court outcome, Mondlane’s representative Judite Simao dismissed the court ruling accusing it of being manipulated.
“We never thought that the electoral truth would be trampled. The will of the people was obliterated,” Simao said.
– CAJ News