Mozambique Opposition Calls for New Protests as Post-Vote Tensions Escalate

More than fifty days after Mozambique's election, the fight over the vote's coutcome has not subsided. On Monday, the opposition presidential candidate and runnerup in the October 8 election called for new protests.

Image Source: The Guardian NG

In a video published on Facebook, Venancio Mondlane urged his supporters to block traffic. There have been near daily rallies across the southern African country since electoral authorities declared the ruling party's Daniel Chapo as the vote winner.

The opposition is contesting what they say is a fraudulent victory by Frelimo, the party that has governed Mozambique since 1975.

Civil society organizations say an ensuing crackdown by security forces has left at least 76 dead and injured 210 others.

Official results by the National Election Commission (CNE) gave Chapo 71 percent of the vote and Mondlane, an independent candidate backed by the Podemos party, 20 percent.

The vast majority of the violent protests have taken place in Maputo