Mozambique president sworn in amid election boycott
Mozambique has sworn in its newly elected parliament after the opposition leader called for a strike in protest against the result of highly contested elections.
According to Al Jazeera on January 13th, two smaller opposition parties held a boycott of the opening ceremony as they refused to accept the outcome of the elections held in October.
The incoming president, Daniel Chapo, has called for calm and unity after months of violent unrest. Meanwhile, opposition leader Venancio Mondlane has claimed the results were rigged in favour of Chapo’s party, which has been in power for 50 years.
Mondlane has urged his supporters to demonstrate their refusal of the official election result with a national strike at the same time Chapo will be sworn in.
During the presidential inauguration ceremony, the parliament building was surrounded by military police who also blocked all main roads to the area.
The city centre, normally busy on a Monday morning, was empty with most shops closed, as protesters manned barricades and attempted to block a main road into the capital.
“The aim here by people trying to block the road with burning tyres, with stones – they also throw rocks sometimes – is to stop people passing back and forth on this road and it’s part of the strategy to bring Maputo to a standstill,” said an Al Jazeera reporter.
This opening of parliament “constitutes a social outrage and a lack of respect for the will of Mozambicans” who were not given a “free, fair and transparent” elections said a Renamo party spokesperson.
According to official election results, Chapo received 65 percent of the presidential vote while Mondlane’s opposition party received 24 percent.
However, Mondlane claims he actually won 53 percent of the vote, arguing Mozambique’s election institutions manipulated the election results.
He returned to Mozambique on January 9th after he went into hiding abroad when his lawyer was murdered in October.
Thousands of Mondlane’s supporters came to the city centre to meet him, leading to clashes with security forces and the deaths of three people.
Political unrest since the election day (October 9th) has killed around 300, according to a tally by a local rights group with security forces accused of using excessive force against protestors.
On his return, Mondlane said to his supporters :“If the assembly takes the oath, it is a betrayal of the will of the people. Let us demonstrate against the inauguration of those who betrayed the will of the people on Monday and against those who stole the will of the people on Wednesday.”
Al Jazeera
