Nacala — The head of the list of candidates of Mozambique's main opposition party, Renamo, for the Nacala municipality, in the northern province of Nampula, Raúl Novinte, has stressed that the results of the municipal elections, repeated on Sunday, are the result of fraud.

According to Novinte, who was running for a further term of office as mayor of Nacala, the decision on what steps should now be taken is up to Nacala residents, "as they may demand that the truth be restored.'

Novinte accuses the ruling Frelimo Party of seizing power in Nacala through electoral fraud.

"We didn't go to vote [on Sunday], but Renamo and its candidate Novinte won. Yes, victory can be snatched from us, as Frelimo has always wanted, but the people know who they elected. We will leave everything in the hands of the people', Novinte told reporters.

The vast majority of Nacala's registered voters stayed away from the polling stations, and Renamo interprets this as meaning that they obeyed its call for a boycott.

Regarding the marches that Renamo has been holding in protest at the fraudulent results of the 11 October municipal elections, Novinte said he is awaiting guidelines from his party at the highest level in Maputo, because he does not have the authority to decide whether or not to continue the marches.

"I have no control over the demonstrations. The party will decide whether they continue or stop', he said.

Novinte called for the police not to be part of the electoral process in the next elections because it creates the conditions for electoral fraud, through threats and the use of firearms, against the opposition in favour of Frelimo.

"They threaten the people, they intimidate the people into not voting for their favorite candidates. This is not democracy," he said.