11 November 2009
Maputo — Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE) on Wednesday announced the final results from the 28 October general elections, confirming an overwhelming victory for incumbent president Armando Guebuza and the ruling Frelimo Party.
Reading out the results at a public ceremony in Maputo, CNE chairperson Joao Leopoldo da Costa said that Guebuza had won 2.9 million of the 3.9 million valid votes - which is slightly more than 75 per cent.
The runner-up was Afonso Dhlakama, leader of the former rebel movement Renamo, who took almost 651,000 votes, or 16.5 per cent. The third candidate, the mayor of Beira, Daviz Simango, who heads the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), took 341,000 votes, or 8.6 per cent.
These results are broadly in line with the results from the polling stations and districts, announced by Radio Mozambique on 29-31 October, with the provisional results from the provinces drawn up by the Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE), the executive wing of the CNE, and with the parallel count undertaken by the Electoral Observatory, the largest and most credible grouping of domestic election observers.
As for the parliamentary election, Frelimo's vote shadowed that of Guebuza, taking 75 per cent. Renamo did somewhat better than its leader, taking 17.8 per cent of the parliamentary vote.
In third place was the MDM with four per cent. This does not express the full level of support for the MDM because the party was only able to stand candidates in four provinces (Maputo City, Sofala, Niassa and Inhambane). The CNE rejected, on procedural grounds, the list of MDM candidates for the other nine constituencies.
16 minor parties stood in the parliamentary elections, and their results were uniformly dismal. None of them took as much as one per cent of the vote.
These results strengthen Frelimo's already impressive parliamentary majority. The number of seats held by Frelimo in the 250 member Assembly of the Republic rises from 160 to 191. The Renamo parliamentary group drops from 90 to 51 members. A third force enters the parliament - thanks to its strong showing in Sofala and Maputo City, the MDM will have eight deputies.
For the first time, provincial assemblies were elected, varying in size from 70 to 91 members. Frelimo won an absolute majority in all ten assemblies. The only provincial assembly with a sizeable opposition is Sofala, where the MDM won 20 seats to 59 for Frelimo and one for Renamo.
The provincial assemblies have no legislative powers. They simply approve (or reject) the budget presented by the provincial government, and have limited powers of oversight. They will meet only twice a year for no more than ten days a session.
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