MOZAMBIQUE COURT CONFIRMS RULING PARTY WON ELECTION Mozambiques electoral body on Tuesday confirmed the ruling Frelimo partys candidate Filipe Nyusi had won Octobers presidential election, as the opposition still refused to accept defeat. Former defence minister Nyusi took 57 percent of the vote in the southern African nation, said the Constitutional Council -- sharply down from the partys 75 percent victory in the previous presidential election in 2009. Nyusis nearest rival, Afonso Dhlakama of the former rebel party Renamo, won 37 percent -- more than double the 16 percent he won in 2009. The validation was the final stage of the election process, clearing the way for Nyusis inauguration and the establishment of the new government in the first quarter of 2015. But speaking to private television yesterday, Dhlakama threatened to appoint his own ministers in the regions where Renamo won. Renamo, which waged a 16-year war against Frelimo before signing a peace deal in 1992, ended a recently renewed low-level insurgency just weeks ahead of the election. The party has been demanding the creation of a transitional government since the elections took place. No one will accept this joke of a government with only Nyusi and Frelimo, Dhlakama told STV Tuesday. I told Frelimo -- lets govern together. If they dont want to and form their government, then Ill form my own. In addition to the presidency, Frelimo also took the majority of seats in the 250-member parliament, WINNING 144 to Renamos 89. The Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), a newcomer to the political scene, won 17 seats. Dhlakama has by turns vowed against a return to violence -- while warning days ago of potential violence if the results were confirmed. I dont want to hear anything about war, nor of the use of the army or the police, he said Tuesday. I dont want to be forced into confrontation. I already have grey hair, grandsons, a family. I wasnt born to always be in confrontation. And that would be a lost confrontation for Frelimo. The elections took place against a backdrop of rising discontent, with rapid economic growth fuelled by coal and gas DEPOSITS failing to benefit the majority of the population -- and months Sapa-AFP
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 09:32:52 +0000