Daniel Chapo says he will be a “president for everyone” and calls for “nonviolence” after a week of protests against voter fraud.
Mozambique’s president-elect has called for “non-violence” and “unity” after widespread riots this week sparked by his ruling party’s disputed election victory.
Daniel Chapo, of the long-ruling Frelimo party, said on Friday that he “regrets” the violence and promised that after his inauguration in mid-January, he would be a “president for everyone” in the southern African country, despite opposition. . Allegations of widespread voter fraud.
Chapo’s disputed victory in October’s election – which was confirmed by Mozambique’s Supreme Court on Monday – led to a week of unrest, after months of protests.
This also led to thousands of Mozambican citizens fleeing to neighboring Malawi.
During four days of protests called by opposition leader Venancio Mondlane this week, streets were closed, and some shops and businesses were looted. Amid the chaos, thousands of prisoners also escaped from a prison in Maputo.
Some 134 people were killed in the week of unrest, according to local NGO Plataforma Desis, bringing the total death toll since the election to at least 261.
In his first public statement since the court’s decision, Chapo said that the cities most affected were the capital, Maputo, neighboring Matola, the city of Beira in the center of the country, and Nampula in the north.
“These actions only contribute to the decline of the country and the increase in the number of Mozambicans who are heading towards unemployment and poverty,” he added, adding that a number of police officers were killed during the clashes.
Frelimo has ruled Mozambique since the end of the war against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975.
However, the opposition led by Mondlane, which enjoys strong support among young people in Mozambique, claimed that the elections held on October 9 were fraudulent.
International observers also pointed to electoral irregularities in the disputed election, which the Constitutional Council said Chapo won with about 65 percent of the vote.
Flee to Malawi
Amid post-election tensions, more than 2,000 Mozambican families took refuge in Malawi this week, Malawian authorities said.
As of Wednesday, 2,182 Mozambican families fleeing violence had crossed into Malawi’s Nsanje district, which borders Mozambique, a senior Malawi official said.
“The situation remains dire as these individuals are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance,” Nsanje District Commissioner Dominic Mwandera said in a letter to the country’s refugee commissioner, seen by Reuters news agency.
Haru Mutasa, Al Jazeera’s correspondent from Maputo, said that regional leaders in Africa say they are ready to help Mozambique resolve its political crisis.
“Countries in the region need Mozambique because they depend on Mozambican ports. For example, fuel that goes to Zimbabwe comes through Mozambique.”
“(Regional countries) urge leaders in Mozambique to engage in dialogue…and resolve the unrest and political impasse in the country.”
