AA / Lilongwe, Malawi / Jamal Jamal
Daniel Chapo of the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo) was sworn in as the country’s fifth president on Wednesday, after months of deadly protests that claimed the lives of some 300 people and displaced hundreds. others.
The streets of the capital Maputo were deserted and shops closed in protest or fear of violence as Chapo began his five-year term.
Protests have engulfed the southeast African country since October 21, when the national electoral body declared Chapo the winner of the October 9 elections, results fiercely contested by the opposition, which called them ” grossly rigged.
Lucia Ribeiro, president of the country’s Constitutional Council, administered the oath of office to Chapo, former governor of Inhambane province.
On December 23, the same council validated the results of the presidential election
The main opposition parties, the National Resistance Movement of Mozambique and the Democratic Movement of Mozambique, both boycotted the inauguration ceremony.
Chapo was declared the winner with 65% of the votes cast, followed by his main rival, Venancio Mondlane, who received only 20% of the votes, according to the council.
The new parliament, made up of 250 deputies, held its first session on Monday, after police reportedly killed at least six people during protests that day.
Venancio Mondlane had called for a national strike in the days leading up to the inauguration and threatened to obstruct the new government with daily demonstrations.
Mondlane, who called for protests while in exile in South Africa, returned to the country last week and declared he would declare himself president.
His travel documents were seized, according to his lawyer.
The unrest shaking the entire country has given rise to acts of looting, the disruption of cross-border trade and the destruction of public structures.
According to election monitoring group Plataforma Decide, the deadly protests have claimed 300 lives in the former Portuguese colony and pushed thousands more to seek refuge in neighboring countries.
*Translated from English by Mourad Belhaj
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