Voters in Mozambique will choose a new government as unrest halts essential gas developments that have an economic impact.
As natural gas projects that may significantly strengthen Mozambique’s stagnant economy are stalled by unrest, the country is holding elections for president, governors, and members of parliament.
The discovery in 2010 of massive offshore gas resources in the north prompted hopes of increased government revenue in one of the world’s poorest countries.
However, because of the ongoing war in the northernmost province of Cabo Delgado, which has been connected to the terrorist organization Daesh, projects have been put on hold since 2021.
Voting in the country in southern Africa is expected to take place on Wednesday between 0500 and 1600 GMT, with 17 million registered voters. About two weeks later, results are anticipated.
It is anticipated that the socialist Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), which has ruled the country since its independence from Portugal fifty years ago, will prevail despite popular disenchantment with the party.
The relatively unknown Daniel Chapo, 47, of Frelimo will succeed 65-year-old President Filipe Nyusi, who is stepping down after serving the two terms permitted by the constitution, if he is elected.
Provincial governor Chapo will face off against three other candidates for president, among them is 63-year-old MP and leader of Renamo, the largest opposition group.
Venancio Mondlane, 50, is another candidate. He ran under Renamo’s banner in 2023 but lost the mayoral election and claimed significant electoral fraud.
Popular with younger people, Mondlane left the party in June to form an alliance with the smaller Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos).
Lutero Simango, a 64-year-old head of the center-right Mozambique Democratic Movement and a vocal opponent of Frelimo, is the second major contender.
Election integrity
Following allegations of massive manipulation in earlier ballots, analysts have expressed worries regarding the integrity of the electoral process.
Opposition parties in 2019 contested the results, claiming electoral fraud and giving Frelimo 73 percent of the vote.
Following the perceived falsity of the 2023 municipal elections, protests broke out in major cities, resulting in multiple fatalities from clashes with law enforcement.
Domingos Do Rosario, a political science lecturer at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, stated, “Nothing is going to change,” citing a lackluster political system and widespread political scheming.
“The integrity of the electoral process is a serious problem,” said researcher Borges Nhamirre from Pretoria’s Institute for Security Studies.
Nhamirre further stated that Frelimo may have been trying to influence Chapo’s selection of nominees to important government positions by selecting the relatively inexperienced man as their candidate.
With his election, Chapo would represent a generational shift for Mozambique as the first president born after independence and the first to have not participated in the bloody Frelimo vs. Renamo war that raged from 1975 to 1992.
At Frelimo’s last campaign event on Sunday, he declared, “We will continue to work so Mozambique stays a country of peace, including in Cabo Delgado.”
