Tensions rise in Mozambique as police fire tear gas at opposition leader amid disputed election

Police in Mozambique fired tear gas at Venancio Mondlane, the leading opposition politician, and his supporters while he was speaking with reporters on Monday. The incident forced them to take cover amidst heightened tensions following a disputed election and the recent killings of two prominent opposition figures.

Mondlane, the main challenger to the long-ruling party in the Oct. 9 presidential election, was giving interviews on a road in Maputo, near the location where his lawyer and a senior party official were shot dead by unidentified assailants on Friday night.

A video posted on Mondlane’s Facebook page captures the chaotic scene as police officers directed tear gas towards him, prompting aides, supporters, and journalists to flee as canisters exploded nearby. Local media reported that one journalist sustained injuries during the incident.

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Mondlane previously called for a nationwide shutdown and urged people to stay away from work on Monday in protest at what he and other parties have called fraudulent elections. He and some supporters had planned to gather near the site of the killings to protest.

Police fired tear gas at other protesters in the port city of Maputo earlier in the day and said there was also unrest in the neighboring province of Gaza. Six people were arrested, police spokesperson Orlando Mudumane told state-run radio. Maputo’s streets were largely deserted in other parts as many stayed at home, either to observe the shutdown or to avoid the unrest.

The election is likely to see the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique party, or Frelimo, extend its 49-year rule since the southern African country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

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The final results are expected later this week, but official preliminary results show Frelimo candidate Daniel Chapo with a comfortable lead on Mondlane, who ran as an independent but was supported by the new Podesa opposition party.

If he wins, Chapo would succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who has served the allowed two terms.

The killings of the opposition figures heightened tensions following the election. Podesa said Mondlane’s lawyer and the party’s top spokesperson were chased down by gunmen in two vehicles who sprayed their car with bullets.

The attack is widely viewed in Mozambique as politically motivated. Mondlane’s lawyer, Elvino Dias, was closely involved in preparations to challenge the election results at the supreme electoral body.

The European Union, which sent a team of election observers, called for an immediate investigation into the killings “that will bring to justice those responsible for this outrageous crime".

The killings were also condemned by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

Frelimo has often been accused of rigging elections, which it has denied, while Mozambique’s security forces have been criticized for clamping down on dissent and breaking up peaceful protests with deadly force.

Mondlane told reporters that police had tried to keep him at his house and prevent him from joining the protests on Monday.

“The whole of last night, police cars were at my doorstep,” he said. “I was trying to find other ways to leave the house without being noticed. I did. I won’t say how”.

With agency inputs