AFRICA/MOZAMBIQUE - After Cyclone Chido: opposition suspends protests

Maputo (Agenzia Fides) - "If we know the truth about the election, we will move towards peace. If it is an electoral lie, we will plunge the country into the abyss, chaos and disorder," warned Venancio Mondlane, candidate of the opposition party PODEMOS, who came second in the presidential elections on October 9 (see Fides, 9/10/2024). Mondlane contested the result of the election, which saw the victory of candidate Daniel Chapo of the ruling party FRELIMO (Mozambican Liberation Front, which has ruled the country continuously since 1975).
Protest demonstrations began in the country on October 21. The Electoral Commission, meanwhile, announced that the ruling party candidate Daniel Chapo won with almost 71% of the vote. Mondlane claims he received 53% of the vote and accuses the authorities of falsifying the results. Clashes with police have so far left about 100 people dead (see Fides, 11/12/2024).
Mondlane, who is abroad and claims to have escaped two attacks, one of which is said to have taken place in South Africa (see Fides, 5/11/2024), appealed in a video broadcast live on social media to "paralyze" the country, but offered to suspend demonstrations for a week to commemorate the victims of Cyclone "Chido", which hit the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula last weekend. According to local authorities, the damage caused by the cyclone currently amounts to at least 15 dead, more than 5,000 houses destroyed or seriously damaged and more than 100,000 people affected. The protests will be suspended until Sunday, December 22, but will resume the next day, when the Constitutional Council is expected to announce the final results of the parliamentary elections.
According to Mondlane, the decision to be announced by the President of the Constitutional Council, Lúcia Ribeiro, will determine the future of the protests. The political crisis in Mozambique is also affecting the economies of neighboring countries that use Mozambican ports for their foreign trade. South Africa, in particular, exports a large part of its mineral production through Mozambique. A mineral that is strategic for the world industry, such as South African chromium, is exported 50 percent through the port of Maputo.
The complete suspension of exports through Mozambique risks a rise in the price of this mineral, of which South Africa is the leading producer with 70% of the world's reserves. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 17/12/2024)

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