Maputo — The first polling station in the central Mozambican province of Sofala to declare results in Thursday's general election showed a collapse in the vote for the main opposition party, Renamo.

Ever since the first multi-party elections in 1994, Sofala has been regarded as a Renamo stronghold. But the one polling station that Radio Mozambique has reported, from the district of Machanga, shows a victory in the presidential election for the incumbent, Armando Guebuza, with Daviz Simango, leader of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM) coming second, and with only two people voting for Renamo leader Afonso Dhlakama.

The results at this small polling station for the presidential election were:

Armando Guebuza (Frelimo) 62 Daviz Simango (MDM) 27 Afonso Dhlakama (Renamo) 2

The radio reported that the results for the parliamentary lection were exactly the same - 62 votes for Frelimo, 27 for the MDM and two for Renamo. The radio report said nothing about the various minor parties who are also standing in Sofala.

In three polling stations in the southernmost district of Matutuine, in Maputo province, Guebuza enjoyed an easy victory. This is no surprise, given that this area has always been regarded as a Frelimo stronghold. The results given by the radio for these stations were:

Armando Guebuza (Frelimo) 1,047 Afonso Dhlakama (Renamo) 62 Daviz Simango (MDM) 15

All results declared at the polling stations are unofficial, and require confirmation from the National Elections Commission (CNE).