Maputo City results released

The Maputo City Elections Commission on Monday announced the results in the capital of the general elections held on Wednesday, showing a convincing win for the ruling Frelimo Party and its presidential candidate, Filipe Nyusi.

In the presidential election, Nyusi won 68.84% of the vote. He proved more popular than his party – in the parliamentary election, Frelimo won 62.69%.

Turnout was 60.2%. Almost 282,000 registered voters in Maputo did not cast their ballots. This is an abstention rate of 39.8%.The full results were as follows:

Presidential Election

Total number of voters 428,240

Number of valid votes 417,868 (97.58%)

Number of blank ballots 3,489 (0.83%)

Number of invalid votes 6,883 (1.61%)

Candidates (percentage of valid votes)

Filipe Nyusi (Frelimo) 287,674 (68.84%)

Afonso Dhlakama (Renamo) 86,326 (20.66%)

Davis Simango (MDM) 43,868 (10.5%)

Parliamentary election

Total number of voters 426,823

Number of valid votes 411, 298 (96.36%)

Number of blank ballots 8,353 (1.96%)

Number of invalid votes 7,172 (1.68%)

Parties (percentage of valid votes)

Frelimo 257,829 (62.69%)

Renamo 82,447 (20.05%)

MDM 64,490 (15.68%)

The other two and a half per cent of the votes were scattered among 24 minor parties.

While Frelimo’s win is convincing, its share of the vote has fallen significantly since the previous elections, in 2009. Then President Armando Guebuza, running for re-election, won 80.4% of the Maputo presidential vote, and Frelimo won 76.5% of the parliamentary vote

As a result Frelimo takes 11 of the 16 seats allocated to Maputo city, Renamo three and the MDM two. In 2009, the city had 18 seats, 14 of which went to Frelimo, three to the MDM, and one to Renamo.

The result is disappointing for the MDM, which failed to build on its successes in the 2013 municipal elections. But the 2013 polls were boycotted by Renamo, and so the MDM picked up the opposition vote. Renamo’s re-entry into electoral politics has clearly stripped away much of the MDM’s support.

The chairperson of the City Elections commission, Victor Miguel, told reporters that results sheets from all 994 polling stations were processed. The commission, which includes members appointed by Frelimo, Renamo and the MDM, agreed unanimously on the results, and all of its members signed the minutes of the provincial count.

Asked about complaints by some political parties that they received credentials for their polling station monitors late or not at all, Miguel placed the blame squarely at the door of the parties themselves.

He pointed out that, according to the electoral law, parties must deliver their lists of monitors at least 20 days before the election, to guarantee that they receive the credentials three days before polling.

None of the three main parties met this deadline, and so the city elections commission bent the law, allowing late accreditation. Lists of names were still being delivered last Tuesday, the day before the election.

“We shouldn’t have received those requests”, Miguel said, “but in the name of peace and tranquility we did”.

He said the commission worked through Tuesday night on the credentials, and “by 06.00 on Wednesday (an hour before polls opened) almost all the credentials, with the exception of some for Frelimo, had been issued”.

The provincial results are still provisional. They will not become definitive until they have been confirmed by the National Elections Commission (CNE).

This is a condensed version of the AIM daily news service - for details contact pfauvet@live.com