(Bloomberg) — Venâncio Mondlane, the fiery opposition presidential candidate who was declared the runner-up in Mozambique’s Oct. 9 elections, warned of further protests against what he’s described as a fraudulent outcome.
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The former lawmaker called for three days of demonstrations last week that led to violent clashes with police and brought business to a halt across much of Maputo, the capital. The first two phases of a four-part plan to ensure voters’ will was respected are complete, and details of the next phase will be announced later on Monday, Mondlane said.
“From Tuesday onwards, hard and very difficult days will come,” he said on Sunday in a post on his Facebook account, which he’s been using to communicate with his supporters after announcing he’d gone into hiding because he’d received information that he may be assassinated.
The unrest — which Center for Democracy and Human Rights Director Adriano Nuvunga said was of an unprecedented magnitude — has sent Mozambique’s dollar bonds plunging. It has also raised fears of further delays to a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project that TotalEnergies SE put on hold in 2021 amid an Islamic State-backed insurgency.
Mondlane has talked about the country being ripe for a revolution in his live-streams, which can garner more than a million views within hours.
It’s unclear if he will be able to sustain support for a lengthy work stoppage in a country where many rely on informal trade to survive. Nearly three in four people live on less than $2.15 daily, according to the World Bank.
Mondlane won 20% support in the presidential vote and ruling party candidate Daniel Chapo 71%, the electoral authorities announced Oct. 24. A raft of irregularities marred the tallying process, with indications of ballot-box stuffing and the alteration of results, according to observers including those from the European Union.
The Podemos party, which backed Mondlane, filed an appeal in the Constitutional Council against the official results on Sunday. The party’s own parallel tally gave the opposition candidate 53% of the vote, Dinis Tivane, a Podemos spokesman, said in comments broadcast by privately owned STV.
He also said his party had won 138 parliament seats, and not the 31 that the electoral commission announced. Podemos presented 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of documentary evidence, STV said.
Both Chapo and Mondlane have indicated a willingness to engage in dialog, but the opposition leader has said his participation is conditional on the electoral authorities publishing polling-station voting data.
(Updates with election appeal filing in the third-last paragraph)
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