Thousands of anti-government demonstrators and security forces have clashed at rallies in Mozambique’s capital following a week of protests seeking regime change after disputed general elections.
From early on Thursday, Mozambicans gathered at different points in Maputo for the marches in support of opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, who insists he won the country’s presidential election on October 9th.
Official results said ruling party Frelimo’s presidential candidate, Daniel Chapo (47), had won 70.7 per cent of the vote, while Mr Mondlane had received 20 per cent.
The country’s main opposition party, the newly formed Podemos, won 30 seats in parliament compared to Frelimo’s 195 seats, extending the former liberation movement’s ongoing rule since 1975.
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International and local election observers have said the national polls were not free and fair, and that the results were rigged in favour of Frelimo.
Mr Mondlane has been supporting the anti-government protests from Johannesburg. He fled to South Africa’s economic capital after two of his top aides were shot dead in Maputo in late October, allegedly by security forces.
Lawyer Elvino Dias and Podemos official Paulo Guambe were said to be preparing a legal challenge to the election results at the time of their murder by gunmen.
Throughout Thursday, security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the protesters in Maputo.
The impoverished southern African country’s disaffected youth appear to make up the majority of the protesters, with many of them supporting Mr Mondlane, an independent candidate, and Podemos at the polls.
On Tuesday, defence minister Cristóvão Chume said in a televised briefing that unspecified people were trying to seize power illegally, and that the security forces were ready to protect the nation’s interests.
Earlier this week, Mr Mondlane claimed he and his family had narrowly escaped an assassination attempt at his Johannesburg hideout.
Human rights and civil society groups said more than 20 people have been killed in the election protests to date, and hundreds more had been injured or arrested.
UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk has warned against “unnecessary or disproportionate force” in Mozambique, urging police to “manage protests in line with Mozambique’s international human rights obligations”.
On Thursday, South Africa closed one of its main border posts with Mozambique, the Lembombo crossing, over fears the escalating violence will drive large numbers of people to leave their neighbouring country.
Some analysts believe the crisis is the worst that Frelimo has had to deal with since the end of the civil war in 1992.
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