31 October 2019

Will Mozambique’s Peace Deal Survive Contested Elections?

Carrie Manning 

The stakes were high when Mozambique voted in general elections on Oct. 15, its sixth poll since 1994, when the country’s first multiparty elections began what has been a shaky transition from 16 years of civil war. But rather than ease tensions, this month’s vote has inflamed new ones amid charges of voter fraud and electoral violence.

When fighting between the government and Renamo, the former rebel group and now main opposition party, flared up in 2013, there were fears of a slide back into open warfare. Although a cease-fire allowed general elections to go forward in 2014, this month’s elections were the first since Renamo’s new leader, Ossufo Momade, and President Filipe Nyusi signed a definitive peace agreement on Aug. 6. ...

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