Tensions over ‘irregularities’ spike as Mozambique counts ballots

– Mozambique counted ballots yesterday following its high-stakes election, as tensions spiked over claims of voting irregularities and concerns that results will not be revealed for days.

President Filipe Nyusi’s Frelimo party, which has ruled the neighbouring country since independence from Portugal in 1975, is widely expected to win the polls

Maputo

held on Tuesday.

The vote has been seen as a key test of a peace deal sealed in August between former civil war foes Frelimo and Renamo.

While voting day appeared mostly calm, civil society groups said they found evidence of suspected election rigging, including several attempts to stuff ballots and election observers being kicked out of polling stations.

Election watchdog Sala da Paz said police fired tear gas and warning shots in the central province of Nampula – a Renamo stronghold – after opposition supporters refused to leave polling premises to “protect” their vote.

“So far, from the issues that have been reported, we cannot say the process has been 100 percent free and fair,” said Sala da Paz spokesperson Hermenegildo Mulhovo.

He claimed that police had killed a voter in Nampula city, in circumstances that were still unclear. Authorities were not immediately able to confirm the incident, but said 73 people had been arrested for “disturbances in polling stations”.

Mozambique’s electoral commission said it will not publish provisional tallies as it has in the past, only committing to releasing final results within the mandated 15-day period after the vote.

Lutero Simango, an MP of the third biggest party MDM, said the reports “only confirmed what we were afraid of – the competition was not fair”. –