Major Social Unrest In Mocambique

Singing the Ballot Blues Mozambique More than 30 people have been killed in Mozambique in one week, raising the death toll to 110 in the government’s bloody crackdown on protestors following a disputed election in October, the Associated Press reported. Over the past two months, thousands of people in the southern African nation have taken to the streets of the capital Maputo, and elsewhere in protests against the governing Frelimo party, which has run the country since independence from Portugal in 1975. Initially peaceful, the protests turned violent after police fired into the crowds. As a result, angry demonstrators have attacked police stations, courthouses, and Frelimo party offices, and even blocked the main border crossing with South Africa. The protestors believe that the elections were rigged. However, following the vote on Oct. 9, the electoral commission said the Frelimo party candidate, Daniel Chapo, won 71 percent of the vote. International observers disagree, saying the ballot was marred by irregularities, according to the Economist. The independent candidate, Venâncio Mondlane, who won only 20 percent of the vote, has claimed that he is the true winner and has called for a revolution. Mondlane, a leaning populist part-time pastor, has garnered support from young people in cities, influencing protests from exile abroad through Facebook broadcasts. Now, countries around the world are concerned about the ongoing unrest and violence: Amnesty International reported that police have shot at least 329 people since the eruption of the protests, killing 110, including children and bystanders, and arrested more than 3,500 people arbitrarily. Tensions rose when two prominent opposition officials were fatally shot in their car by unknown gunmen on Oct. 18, escalating the protests. Meanwhile, Chapo is due to be inaugurated on Jan.15, but the election results have not been validated by the Constitutional Council due to legal challenges from the opposition. The protests are expected to escalate later this month.