 "People queue to vote in Inhambane, Mozambique, on 9 October. A protest against the election result is being held on Monday. Reuters")
An opposition lawyer and a party official were killed after attackers fired rounds at a car in Mozambique as protests raged on over election results. Mozambique’s new opposition Podemos party and its presidential candidate, Venâncio Mondlane are rejecting the provincial results which are showing a probable win for the Frelimo Party.
It is pertinent to note that Frelimo has ruled Mozambique for half a century. The ongoing political struggle led to protests and strikes across the country which started on Monday. Amid the chaos, the Mozambican civil society election observer group More Integrity said that Podemos lawyer Elvino Dias and the opposition party representative Paulo Guambe were killed in an attack that happened in Bairro da Coop neighbourhood of the capital, Maputo.
“They were brutally assassinated [in a] cold-blooded murder,” said Adriano Nuvunga, the director of Mozambique’s Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CDD). “The indications [are] that around 10 to 15 bullets were shot, and they died instantly," the official added. Soon after the news stirred the headlines, the European Union condemned the killings “in the strongest terms”, The Guardian reported.
The regional body called for an “immediate, thorough and transparent investigation”. “In a democracy, there is no place for politically motivated killings,” its diplomatic service said, adding that its election observers were still in the country assessing the ongoing electoral process.
What is happening in Mozambique?
As per the latest election tally in the country, Frelimo is leading in all 11 provinces, and its candidate, Daniel Chapo, is widely expected to win the 9 October election. However, external observers are casting doubts over the credibility of the polls.
Some of the oversight groups reported vote-buying, intimidation, inflated voter rolls in Frelimo strongholds and a lack of transparency in collation – problems that have marred most polls since Frelimo first introduced democracy in 1994 after being in power for two decades.
According to The Guardian, full results are expected to be out by October 24. However, many are fearing that the ongoing protests could turn bloody. Earlier this week, Mozambique’s security forces opened fire on political protests in the past, including after last year’s local elections and on Wednesday at a rally welcoming Mondlane to the northern city of Nampula.
Human Rights Watch researcher Zenaida Machado confirmed the two killings on X, formerly known as Twitter and called for a transparent investigation. “All of those found responsible for this crime should be brought to justice,” she wrote in her post.
With inputs from agencies.