20 November 2008
Maputo — Mozambique's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, is set to lose one of its few municipal strongholds, the northern port of Nacala, according to initial results broadcast by Radio Mozambique.
The results from 28 of the 99 Nacala polling station gave the candidate of the ruling Frelimo Party, Chale Ossufo, a significant edge over the current mayor and Renamo candidate, Manuel dos Santos. A candidate from the country's third largest party, the Party for Peace, Development and Democracy (PDD, was doing very badly.
In detail, the results from these 28 stations were:
Chale Ossufo (Frelimo): 8,110 Manuel dos Santos (Renamo): 6,430 Julio Cipriano (PPD) 123
Nacala was one of many municipalities where the polls could not close at the scheduled time of 18.00 on Wednesday, because there were still long queues of citizens waiting to vote. Since voting went on deep into the night, the count was also delayed and carried on into the small hours of the morning.
Renamo also seems set to lose a second of its northern coastal municipalities, Mozambique Island.
According to the Radio, the count from 23 of the 33 polling stations on Mozambique Island gave the Frelimo candidate, Alfredo Mata, almost twice as many votes as the Renamo candidate and outgoing mayor Gulamo Mamudo.. The results for the mayoral election were:
Alfredo Mata (Frelimo): 5,098 Gulamo Mamudo (Renamo): 2,587
In the election for members of the Mozambique Island municipal assembly, the results were:
Frelimo: 5,124 Renamo: 2,588
The results given by the radio come from the results sheets ("editais") fixed to the walls of the polling stations after the count. They are not official until confirmed by the National Elections Commission (CNE).
Pf/ (291)
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