MAPUTO: Mozambique’s capital Maputo was deserted early Thursday ahead of the announcement of results of the October 9 elections that an opposition candidate has rejected while calling for fresh protests against the ruling party which is expected to be declared winner.
In an announcement due at 2:30 p.m. (1230 GMT), the Mozambican National Electoral Commission (CNE) is widely expected to declare that Frelimo will remain in power, which it has held since independence from Portugal in 1975.
Emerging opposition presidential candidate Venancio Mondlane, backed by the Podemos party, has already claimed he won the vote, alleging electoral fraud and manipulation in favor of Frelimo and its candidate, Daniel Chapo.
Since voting day Mondlane has issued calls on social media for protests. In a new message on Facebook late Wednesday, he encouraged a “great national demonstration” against Frelimo’s half-a-century in power.
“The time has come for the people to take power and say that we now want to change the history of this country,” he said.
“In all the neighborhoods, all the districts, we are going to be on the streets, there won’t be enough bullets for everyone, there won’t be tear gas for everyone, there won’t be enough armored vehicles.”
Tensions in a country that has already seen bouts of post-election violence were exacerbated by the assassination on Saturday of a lawyer and political ally of Mondlane who were preparing a legal case to contest the vote on behalf of the opposition leader.
Thousands of people gathered outside Maputo Wednesday to bury the lawyer, Elvino Dias, who was killed in an ambush on a car alongside opposition activist, Paulo Guambe.
Mondlane, 50, has accused the security forces of the attack and claimed he could be next. Police said they have launched an investigation into the killings, which Frelimo “vehemently” condemned as a “macabre act.”
Outgoing president Filipe Nyusi, 65, warned Wednesday that calls for violent protests could be considered criminal acts.
“Inciting the population to revolt, misinforming the world and creating chaos for political purposes can be considered criminal acts,” said Nyusi, who has served a maximum two-term limit.
Police also called for calm on Wednesday, saying people should not allow themselves to be manipulated by “incendiary speeches and misinformation.”
Mondlane, a former radio presenter who has been able to attract younger voters in the destitute coastal country, was among a group of protesters tear gassed by police in a demonstration in the capital on Monday.
He has also accused security forces of wounding three people when they opened fire to disperse hundreds of his supporters in a protest in the northern city of Nampula on October 17.
Last year, several people were killed in clashes after Frelimo won municipal elections.
Election observers from the EU have raised concerns about the legitimacy of this month’s polls, noting “irregularities during counting and unjustified alteration of election results at polling station and district level.”
Initial indications of a low turnout in the country of some 33 million people could further erode the vote’s credibility.
Expected to be declared winner of the presidential polls, Daniel Chapo, 47, would be Mozambique’s first president born after independence from Portugal.
A former provincial governor with no experience in national government, he would also be the first leader not to have fought in the 1975-1992 civil war between Frelimo and Renamo, which claimed around a million lives.
Renamo’s leader Ossufo Momade, 63, also stood for election on October 9, as did Lutero Simango, 64, of the Mozambique Democratic Movement.

LONDON: The EU’s coast guard agency, Frontex, should use its reconnaissance capabilities to help rescue refugee vessels in the Mediterranean, Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

HRW launched a new campaign, #WithHumanity, calling on Frontex to help save the lives of thousands of people making the perilous journey to Europe.

Over the past decade, more than 30,500 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean, and this year at least 1,600 have been recorded dead or missing alone.

Judith Sunderland, HRW’s associate Europe and Central Asia director, said: “Frontex planes and drones should use their eyes on the Mediterranean Sea to save lives. With thousands dying in the Mediterranean every year, it’s vital for Frontex to do all it can to help ensure that people on unseaworthy boats are rescued and brought to safety.”

Coordination issues between Frontex, national coast guards in Europe and NGOs must be resolved, HRW said.

“By focusing on the aspirations of people taking these dangerous journeys, we hope that people across Europe will join us in urging Frontex to prioritize saving lives at sea,” Sunderland said.

“Europe’s coast guard should uphold EU and international law and our shared commitment to humanity and the protection of life.”

As it stands, when Frontex staff sight refugee vessels in the Mediterranean using aircraft, it informs rescue centers in EU member states as well as Libya and Tunisia.

But nearby NGO rescue ships are often left out of the communication loop, as are nearby vessels, which HRW said should receive emergency alerts.

In many cases, Libyan and Tunisian forces have received alerts and interdicted the refugee vessels, returning passengers to countries where they “face serious human rights abuses.”

A 2022 report by HRW found that Frontex’s decisions make the agency complicit in abusive and indefinite arbitrary detention practices in Libya.

Last month, 11 people rescued from Libya on the Medecins Sans Frontieres ship Geo Barents were interviewed by HRW.

All had suffered abuse — including claims of sexual violence, forced labor and physical assault — while in Libyan detention centers or smuggler captivity.

The Pylos shipwreck in 2023 “demonstrated the fatal consequences” of failing to respond appropriately to refugee vessels, HRW said.

More than 600 people died after the severely overcrowded ship capsized in Greece’s search-and-rescue region.

Frontex informed coastal authorities but failed to issue an emergency alert to nearby ships on the basis that there was no “imminent risk of loss of life.”

NGO rescue staff told HRW that Frontex coordination can prove crucial to saving the lives of refugees.

Last October, Geo Barents performed a nighttime rescue, saving 64 people including women and children, after receiving the coordinates of an overcrowded raft in the Mediterranean.

Fulvia Conte, MSF’s search-and-rescue team leader, said: “To have precise coordinates, taken from the sky, with a thermal camera, of course it helps when searching for a boat.”

Frontex must ensure that the locations of vessels in distress are automatically transmitted to NGO rescue ships in the vicinity, HRW said.

“Through the #WithHumanity campaign, Human Rights Watch is asking the public to take a closer look at the lives and rights at risk in the Mediterranean Sea and their shared humanity with those making the crossing, and to demand action by the responsible authorities,” the organization added.