Mozambicans vote in local polls amid claims of violence

Mozambique held local elections on Wednesday that could expose cracks in the country’s peace process after the ruling Frelimo party was accused of violence and intimidation during the run-up to the vote.

The 13-day election campaign, which ended at the weekend, was marked by several clashes between rival party supporters.

“The elections are happening and they are the result of the sacrifices of all the Mozambican people,” President Filipe Nyusi said after voting in the capital, Maputo.

The main opposition Renamo party, which has maintained an armed wing since the end of the country’s civil war, is running in the municipal vote for the first time in 10 years.

Renamo fought a brutal 16-year civil war against the Frelimo government in which one-million people were killed before fighting ended in 1992.

Fresh violence erupted in 2013 between Renamo rebels and government troops, raising fears of a return to civil war, but the party declared a truce in 2016 and opened fresh peace talks.

Voters lined up in long queues outside ballot stations from early on Wednesday, with results due on Thursday.

“I arrived at 5am and only managed to vote at 9am. The queues were disorganised but I am happy to have been able to exercise my right to vote,” Ana Beatriz, a voter in Maputo, said.

Renamo is hoping for a breakthrough ahead of the general election in 2019.

“These landmark local elections will test the success of decentralisation measures agreed with the armed opposition and will act as an important political bellwether,” the Londonbased EXX risk consultancy said in a note.

“The rewards at hand have rendered the political climate in Mozambique both tense and volatile, as highlighted by a series of violent incidents in the pre-election period.”

Renamo supporters say they have faced intimidation and assaults during the campaign.

“Our members and sympathisers are asking for the party’s leadership to intervene in their defence since the police do nothing,” Renamo’s acting leader, Ossufo Momade, said last week.

The vote was held in Mozambique’s 53 municipalities, 49 of which are governed by Frelimo and four by the second opposition MDM party. –