Presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane has called for a week-long general strike in Mozambique starting today, demonstrations at the district headquarters of the National Elections Commission (CNE) and marches to Maputo on November 7.
What he called the third stage of the challenge to the results of the October 9th general elections announced a week ago by the National Elections Commission (CNE), follows the protests held on the 21st, 24th and 25th that degenerated into clashes with the police , which resulted in at least 10 deaths, dozens of injuries and 500 arrests, according to the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), a Mozambican non-governmental organization that monitors electoral processes.
The protest called by Mondlane received the support of around forty opposition political parties, mainly extra-parliamentary, who announced on Wednesday an "unprecedented alliance" to challenge the results announced by the CNE and promised to "lead the people" in the challenges, considering that if deals with constitutional law.
Also on Wednesday, the Mozambican Government warned that it "does not want a repeat" of the almost total strike recorded over three days last week, promising security to companies, given the call for a seven-day strike.
"Our appeal is that companies remain open. Our appeal is that workers, employees, go to their workplaces. The Government will do everything possible to guarantee safety and we want the country not to have a shutdown, because this will have major effects on the country's economy", said the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Silvino Moreno.
On Monday, the Police of the Republic of Mozambique announced that it had opened a criminal case against Venâncio Mondlane and supporters, for the escalation of post-election violence in the country.
According to the Minister of the Interior, Pascoal Ronda, Mondlane is "commanding", from South Africa, the "manipulation of public opinion", inciting violence.
In an intervention made on Tuesday on his official account on the social network Facebook, Mondlane called for demonstrations at the local structures of the CNE and headquarters of the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo, party in power) from today onwards, for those who do not have the capacity to get moving, asking others, from all over the country, to start the trip to Maputo by November 7th.
"We are going to fill the entire city of Maputo and I am predicting four million Mozambicans (...), a flood never seen before", he appealed, acknowledging that he was asking the population for "a sacrifice".
The National Elections Commission (CNE) of Mozambique announced on the 24th the victory of Daniel Chapo, supported by the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo, party in power since 1975) in the election for President of the Republic on October 9th, with 70 .67% of the votes.
Venâncio Mondlane, supported by the Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos, extra-parliamentary), came in second place, with 20.32%, but stated that he did not recognize these results, which still need to be validated and proclaimed by the Constitutional Council.
Frelimo also reinforced its parliamentary majority, increasing from 184 to 195 deputies (from 250), and elected all 10 provincial governors in the country.
In addition to Mondlane, the president of the Mozambican National Resistance (Renamo, the current largest opposition party), Ossufo Momade, one of the four presidential candidates, said that he does not recognize the electoral results announced by the CNE and called for the vote to be annulled, and the presidential candidate Lutero Simango, supported by the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), also rejected the results, considering that they were "forged in the secretariat", and promised "political and legal action" to restore the "popular will".
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