Mozambique went to the polls on Wednesday as the region watched to see how the country transits to its next leader.
Some 17 million voters trooped to the election centres to elect the President, members of Parliament and local assemblies and provincial governors.
Another 333,000 voters were expected to cast their ballots at Mozambican missions abroad.
An election official explains the voting process to a local during the general elections at Inhambane, in southern Mozambique on October 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Reuters
After the electoral campaigns ended on Sunday, the Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration (Stae) said everything was in place for the polls.
According to the Stae spokesperson Regina Matsinha, all the provinces have already received the election material and placed it in the districts where the voting will take place.
On Wednesday, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi and his wife Isaura voted in Maputo and called on locals to maintain peace during the voting season.
“I urge all Mozambicans to head to the polling stations with their voters’ cards to also exercise their right,” he said.
“Let’s all adhere to this momentous occasion, but remain calm so that everything happens within the spirit of peace and tranquillity.”
Four candidates are vying for the country’s top seat, with the winner expected to succeed Nyusi, who has completed his two five-year terms.
Locals wait to vote during the general elections at Inhambane, in southern Mozambique on October 9, 2024.
Photo credit: Reuters
The country’s electoral law says that the President is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term, and the candidate who receives more than half of the valid votes cast is elected.
The ruling Frelimo (Mozambique Liberation Front) party nominee is the 47-year-old Daniel Chapo. Frelimo has ruled the country since independence and it is expected to extend its power after Wednesday’s polls.
Ossufo Momade, 63, is running on the ticket of the main opposition party Renamo (Mozambican National Resistance) and is widely seen as the closest challenger to Frelimo’s Chapo.
The other aspirants for the presidency are Lutero Simango, 64, of the MDM (Democratic Movement of Mozambique) party, and Venâncio Mondlane, 50, backed by the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos) and the Democratic Revolution (RD).
Both Podemos and RD have no parliamentary representation.
Under Mozambican electoral law, if there is no run-off, the National Electoral Commission can take up to two weeks from the close of polling to publish the results. The Constitutional Council (CC) then validates the results, with no time limit.
The CC also has the duty to declare the results null and void and to order a re-run of the election in accordance with the Constitution.
These are the seventh presidential and legislative elections and the fourth for provincial assemblies and governors since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Frelimo, Renamo and MDM are among the 37 political parties and coalitions contesting the legislative elections.
According to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, Frelimo has dominated the country’s politics since the return of multiparty elections in 1994, following a devastating 15-year civil war with Renamo that left an estimated one million people dead.
Frelimo’s brazenness in engineering one-sided election results appears to reflect its sense of entitlement to rule Mozambique in perpetuity, the watchdog added.
These could be the most important elections in Mozambique, with more observers than ever before, and will test the transparency and credibility of the process.
The elections will be monitored by 11,516 national observers and 412 international observers.
International observers include those from the European Union, the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
There are also 1,581 national and 10 international accredited journalists and more than 184,500 polling station staff spread across the country’s 154 districts and abroad.
Source link : https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/southern-africa/mozambique-polls-open-with-eyes-on-transition-plan-4789544
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Publish date : 2024-10-09 10:30:00
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