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General elections were held in
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
on 9 October 2024 to elect the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
, the 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic and members of the ten provincial assemblies. The ruling
FRELIMO FRELIMO (; from , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975. Founded in 1962, FRELIMO began as a nationalist movement fighting for the self-determination ...
party, which has increasingly become marked with growing concerns of authoritarianism and impunity amid the controversies surrounding the 2023 local elections and the 2019 general election, was declared the winner of the election, with its leader,
Daniel Chapo Daniel Francisco Chapo (born 6 January 1977) is a Mozambican politician, lawyer and jurist who has been the fifth president of Mozambique since 15 January 2025. Chapo previously served as the governor of Inhambane Province from 2016 to 2024. Ch ...
, proclaimed as
president-elect An ''officer-elect'' is a person who has been elected to a position but has not yet been installed. Notably, a president who has been elected but not yet installed would be referred to as a ''president-elect'' (e.g. president-elect of the Un ...
. This was disputed by Venâncio Mondlane, with his party PODEMOS claiming Mondlane had received 53% of the vote using data from their poll observers. The result was also questioned by the Episcopal Conference of Mozambique and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, while deadly protests broke out over the election results, with at least 250 deaths, mostly demonstrators being killed by police and army forces.


Background

FRELIMO, which has ruled the country since 1975 when they created a one-party Marxist–Leninist state, allowed multi-party elections as part of the peace process that ended the
Mozambican Civil War The Mozambican Civil War () was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992 due to a combination of local strife and the polarizing effects of Cold War politics. The fighting was between Mozambique's ruling Marxist Front for the Liberat ...
in
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
; however, the opposition has decried these elections as rigged in FRELIMO's favor. After the 2023 local elections protests broke out due to alleged fraud on the part of FRELIMO with the police killing at least three protesters. Public perceptions of the election were muted, as many view a FRELIMO victory as a foregone conclusion.


Electoral system

The
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
is elected using the
two-round system The two-round system (TRS or 2RS), sometimes called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single-winner electoral system which aims to elect a member who has support of the majority of voters. The two-round system involves one ...
. The 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic are elected by
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
in eleven multi-member constituencies based on the country's
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
and on a first-past-the-post basis from two single-member constituencies representing Mozambican citizens in Africa and Europe. Seats in the multi-member constituencies are allocated using the
d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...
, with an
electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...
of 5%. Official results are announced by the National Election Commission (CNE) after 15 days and must subsequently be validated by the Constitutional Council. Concerns have been raised over discrepancies in the total number of registered voters, which stands at more than 17 million. The non-governmental organisation Centro de Integridade Pública, citing data published by the CNE, said that there are 878,868 more registered voters than there are voting age adults in some provinces, leading them to describe 5% of the electorate as "ghost voters". The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance also notes the existence of "ghost voters" in seven of the country's ten provinces, with up to a third of the registered voting population in
Gaza Province Gaza is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 75,709 km2 and a population of 1,422,460 (2017 census), which is the least populous of all the provinces of Mozambique. Xai-Xai is the capital of the province. Inhambane Province is t ...
believed to be non-existent.


Candidates

Amélia Muendane,
Luísa Diogo Luísa Dias Diogo (born 11 April 1958) is a Mozambican politician who served as Prime Minister of Mozambique from February 2004 to January 2010. She replaced Pascoal Mocumbi, who had been prime minister for the previous nine years. Before bec ...
, Jaime Basílio Monteiro, José Pacheco,
Celso Correia Celso is a given name, a variant of Celsus. It may refer to: People * Celso Sozzini (1517–1570), Italian freethinker * Celso Mancini (1542–1612), Italian Roman Catholic prelate * Celso Zani (1580-unknown), Italian Roman Catholic prelate * Ce ...
, and Samora Machel junior. On 5 May 2024, after a meeting of its Central Committee,
FRELIMO FRELIMO (; from , ) is a democratic socialist political party in Mozambique. It has governed the country since its independence from Portugal in 1975. Founded in 1962, FRELIMO began as a nationalist movement fighting for the self-determination ...
named
Daniel Chapo Daniel Francisco Chapo (born 6 January 1977) is a Mozambican politician, lawyer and jurist who has been the fifth president of Mozambique since 15 January 2025. Chapo previously served as the governor of Inhambane Province from 2016 to 2024. Ch ...
, a 47-year old law professor and former governor of
Inhambane Province Inhambane is a province of Mozambique located on the coast in the southern part of the country. It has an area of 68,615 km2 and a population of 1,488,676 (2017 census). The provincial capital is also called Inhambane. The climate is trop ...
, as its candidate in the upcoming election to succeed outgoing president
Filipe Nyusi Filipe Jacinto Nyusi (; born 9 February 1959) is a Mozambican politician who was the fourth president of Mozambique from 2015 to 2025. He has also served as the Chairman of the Southern African Development Community from 2020 to 2022. During his ...
. Chapo is the first presidential candidate of FRELIMO who was born after Mozambique gained independence in 1975. On the same date, the
Democratic Movement of Mozambique The Democratic Movement of Mozambique () is a political party in Mozambique. Founded on 6 March 2009, it was led by Daviz Simango, who was the Mayor of Beira. It formed after breaking with RENAMO RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a M ...
(MDM) selected its leader, Lutero Simango, to be its candidate for the October elections. Other candidates include Ossufo Momade, the leader of the
RENAMO RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppos ...
party since 2018 who had lost in the 2019 presidential election to Nyusi, and Venâncio Mondlane, a banker and forestry engineer who ran as an
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
after breaking away from RENAMO following an unsuccessful bid in the mayoral election in
Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
in 2023 that was marred by allegations of electoral fraud. Mondlane was supported by the newly established Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (PODEMOS), as well as the Democratic Alliance, a coalition of opposition parties that were barred from contesting the election. Mondlane was registered as the PODEMOS party's presidential candidate for this election. Also, the president of the PODEMOS party, Albino Forquilha, said that he allows for the possibility of Mondlane becoming the party leader in the future.


Campaign

Campaigning was held from August to 6 October. Both Chapo and Mondlane also made campaign stops in neighbouring South Africa, appealing to overseas voters there. All three candidates named the resolution of the
Insurgency in Cabo Delgado The insurgency in Cabo Delgado is an ongoing Islamism, Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, mainly fought between militant Islamism, Islamists and Jihadism, jihadists attempting to establish an Islamic state in the region, a ...
as their main priority. Chapo was seen as the favorite to win the election. Independent candidate Venâncio Mondlane was seen as the biggest challenge to Chapo.


Conduct

The
Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Goals The SADC's goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and se ...
sent 52 election observers to monitor the election. Observers were also deployed by the
African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...
and the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. However, more than 200 polling stations denied journalists and observers access to the vote counting process with the election watchdog group Sala da Paz stating: "There were significant cases of .... electoral irregularities that may raise questions about the credibility of the process." Polling opened at 07:00 and closed at 18:00. Chapo's rivals alleged instances of fraud such as ballot boxes being unsealed before voting ended and some of their representatives being denied accreditation to monitor the vote.


Results

Opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane preemptively declared himself victor. By 16 October preliminary reports showed Chapo in the lead. On 24 October, the CNE announced that Chapo won the election with 71% of the vote, while turnout was at 43%. It also said that FRELIMO won in all provincial elections and won 195 of the 250 seats in parliament, with PODEMOS winning 31 seats and RENAMO winning 20. PODEMOS disputed the results, publishing their own parallel count from their election monitors which showed Mondlane won with 53% of the vote and the party won 138 seats. PODEMOS provided over 660 pounds of tabulated ballots to support their election count. On 23 December, the Constitutional Council published and validated the election results, which were different from the preliminary outcome announced by the CNE.


President


Assembly


Provincial elections


Aftermath


Reactions

*: Foreign ministry spokesmen
Lin Jian Lin Jian (; born May 1977) is a Chinese diplomat who has been serving as the 34th List of spokespersons of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republ ...
congratulated "the Frelimo party and Chapo on their election victory" on 26 October and called for a continuation of strong Chinese-Mozambican ties. *: President
Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...
announced on 27 October that he welcomes the election results and congratulated "President-Elect Daniel Chapo and his party, FRELIMO" while also calling for calm and denouncing violence. After violence broke out related to the election, foreign minister
Ronald Lamola Ronald Ozzy Lamola (born 21 November 1983) is a South African lawyer and politician who is the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa since 22 May 2019 as a member of the African ...
expressed concern and called for calm.


References

{{Mozambican elections
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
Presidential elections in Mozambique Parliamentary elections in Mozambique