General elections 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 ...

, Assembly of the Republic, and

Provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Canad ...

Assemblies was 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 28 October 2009. Incumbent President

Armando Guebuza Armando Emílio Guebuza (born 20 January 1943) is a Mozambique, Mozambican politician who was the third President of Mozambique from 2005 to 2015. Career Guebuza, born at Murrupula in Nampula Province, joined the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRE ...

ran for re-election as the

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 ...

candidate; he was challenged by opposition leader

Afonso Dhlakama Afonso Marceta Macacho Dhlakama (1 January 1953 – 3 May 2018) was a Mozambican politician and the leader of RENAMO, an anti-communist guerrilla movement that fought the FRELIMO government in the Mozambican Civil War before signing a peace agr ...

, who had stood as 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 ...

candidate in every presidential election since 1994. Also standing were

Daviz Simango Daviz Mbepo Simango (7 February 1964 – 22 February 2021) was a Mozambican politician who was Mayor of Beira from 2003 to the day of his death in February 2021. He was also the President of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM). He was s ...

, the Mayor of Beira, who was a RENAMO member before founding his own party, 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), earlier in 2009.

Campaign

Campaigning for the election began on 13 September 2009. There were 17 parties and two coalitions competing in the parliamentary election. Provincial assemblies were also at stake in the election."Campaigning begins in Mozambique"
Sapa-AFP (''IOL''), 14 September 2009. Citing problems in the papers submitted by the MDM when it filed to run, the National Elections Commission barred it from contesting the parliamentary election in nine out of 13 regions. Simango, who insisted there were no problems with the papers, was allowed to stand as a presidential candidate. Prior to the election, Guebuza was heavily favored to win another term, and RENAMO, mired in a bitter feud with Simango and the MDM, was thought to have been seriously weakened since the previous election, held in 2004. On 14 October 2009, 20 minor parties backed Simango's candidacy. The

Independent Party of Mozambique The Independent Party of Mozambique (, PIMO) is a political party in Mozambique. The party was founded in 1993, it was reportedly intended to be named 'Mozambique Islamic Party', but since national legislation prohibits religious political parties t ...

(PIMO), another minor party, chose to support Guebuza. On the last day of campaigning, 25 October, each of the three main candidates held major rallies. At FRELIMO's rally in

Nampula Nampula is the capital city of Nampula Province in Northern Mozambique. With a population of 743,125 (2017 census), it is the third-largest city in Mozambique after Maputo and Matola. The city is located in the interior of Nampula Province, appro ...

, Guebuza stressed a commitment to fighting poverty and working for "national unity, peace and development". Dhlakama concluded his campaign with rallies 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 ...

, and he criticized the predominant role of FRELIMO in society: "Everything is mixed together today in Mozambique. The party, the police, schools, roads, journalists—everything has to be through FRELIMO. This has to stop." Simango, meanwhile, held his last rally in Beira, declaring that it was time to "end the games, end the abuses"; he pointed to the problems of unemployment and lack of medicine in hospitals when urging his supporters to turn out for the vote. Voting at central Maputo's Polana secondary school on election day, Dklahama said that if he lost the election he would not run for president again. He also called for a high turnout, while stressing the importance of respecting the results and avoiding a post-election dispute.

Results

According to provisional results announced on 2 November, incumbent president Guebuza won a landslide victory with about 75% of the vote. Turnout was estimated at 42%. SADC observers said the election result was "a true reflection of the will of the people of Mozambique". Opposition party RENAMO was less content with the electoral conduct, demanding that the election be annulled. According to RENAMO spokesperson Ivone Soares, FRELIMO supporters stuffed ballot boxes with multiple votes and were assisted in doing so by the electoral commission, which provided them with additional ballot papers. A FRELIMO spokesperson, Edson Macuacua, dismissed the allegations, asserting that the election was free and fair and characterizing RENAMO as "lost and desperate". On 11 November, the National Elections Commission officially announced that Guebuza had won the election with 75% of the vote; Dhlakama and Simango trailed with 16.5% and 8.6% respectively. Results for the parliamentary election were also announced, showing that FRELIMO had won 191 seats, followed by RENAMO with 51 seats and eight for the MDM."Mozambique's Guebuza re-elected in landslide"
AFP, 11 November 2009. The Constitutional Council confirmed the results on 28 December. Continuing to allege fraud, Dhlakama said that RENAMO would boycott the opening of parliament."First woman speaker elected in Moz"
Sapa (''IOL''), 12 January 2009. After the newly elected deputies were sworn in, they elected

Veronica Macamo Veronica, Veronika, etc., may refer to: People * Veronica (name) * Saint Veronica * Saint Veronica of Syria Arts and media Comics and literature * ''Veronica'', an 1870 novel by Frances Eleanor Trollope * ''Veronica (novel)'', a 2005 novel by ...

, a FRELIMO Deputy, as president of the Assembly of the Republic in January 2010. Macamo was the only candidate for the position.

President

Assembly

Provincial elections

References

{{Mozambican elections Presidential elections in Mozambique Parliamentary elections in Mozambique

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...