2019 Mozambican general election

General elections were held in Mozambique on 15 October 2019.[1][2][3] Incumbent president Filipe Nyusi of FRELIMO was re-elected with 73% of the vote. The main opposition party RENAMO contested the results, claiming there were numerous irregularities, and accusing FRELIMO of "massive electoral fraud", including hundreds of thousands of "ghost voters".[4]

2019 Mozambican general election

15 October 2019 (2019-10-15)
Turnout	51.84% 2.81 pp
Nominee Filipe Nyusi Ossufo Momade Party FRELIMO RENAMO Popular vote 4,639,172 1,356,786 Percentage 73.46% 21.48%
President before election Filipe Nyusi FRELIMO Elected President Filipe Nyusi FRELIMO

Electoral system

The President of Mozambique was elected using the two-round system.[5] The 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic were elected by proportional representation in eleven multi-member constituencies based on the country's provinces 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 were allocated using the D'Hondt method.[6]

Candidates

On 16 January 2019, the main opposition party RENAMO held a congress at which Ossufo Momade was elected as the party's new leader and presidential candidate.[7] Momade had been the party's interim president following the death of Afonso Dhlakama in May 2018 and was seen as a "unifying leader" that could bring the political and military sector of RENAMO closer.[8]

The ruling FRELIMO held its congress on 6 May, at which it confirmed its decision to support the re-election of President Filipe Nyussi for a second and final term.

On 9 May and following a three-day congress, the Democratic Movement of Mozambique confirmed that its presidential candidate would be Daviz Simango, mayor of Beira since 2003. Simango was a presidential candidate in the two previous general elections.[9]

On 31 July the Constitutional Council approved four candidates; Nyussi, Momade, Simango and Mário Albino. Two candidates were disqualified; Hélder Mendoça and Alice Mabota. Mabota would have been the first woman to run for president, but failed to collect enough signatures.[10]

FRELIMO nominated Mércia Viriato Licá as one of their candidates. She was elected and became the youngest MP in the country's history.[11]

Results

President

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Filipe Nyusi	FRELIMO	4,639,172	73.46
	Ossufo Momade	RENAMO	1,356,786	21.84
	Daviz Simango	MDM	273,599	4.33
	Mário Albino	AMUSI	46,048	0.73
Invalid/blank votes			508,321	–
Total			6,823,926	100
Registered voters/turnout			13,162,321	51.84
Source: EISA

Assembly

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	FRELIMO	4,323,298	71.28	184	+40
	RENAMO	1,351,659	22.28	60	–29
	Democratic Movement of Mozambique	254,290	4.19	6	–11
	AMUSI	27,277	0.45	0
	New Democracy	25,046	0.41	0
	Unity for Change	8,347	0.14	0
	Optimistic People for the Development of Mozambique	6,768	0.11	0
	National Reconciliation Party	6,469	0.11	0
	Patriotic Movement for Democracy	5,883	0.10	0
	Unity Party for Reconciliation	5,399	0.09	0
	Greens Party of Mozambique	5,361	0.09	0
	Workers' Party	5,173	0.09	0
	National Party of the Mozambican People/CRD	4,143	0.07	0
	Youth Movement for the Restoration of Democracy	4,054	0.07	0
	National Movement for the Recovery of Mozambican Unity	3,820	0.06	0
	Electoral Union	3,769	0.06	0
	People's Progress Party of Mozambique	3,431	0.06	0
	Social Renewal Party	3,365	0.06	0
	Ecological Party of Mozambique	3,313	0.05	0
	Party of Liberty and Development	2,868	0.05	0
	Democratic Unity	2,720	0.04	0
	Ecological Party – Land Movement	2,579	0.04	0
	Democratic Justice Party of Mozambique	2,036	0.03	0
	Social Enlargement Party of Mozambique	2,006	0.03	0
	National Party of Workers and Peasants	1,783	0.03	0
	Democratic Union of Mozambique	664	0.01	0
Invalid/blank votes		700,895	–	–	–
Total		6,766,416	100	250
Registered voters/turnout		13,162,321	51.41	–	–
Source: STAE

Provincial elections

Province	Seats
	FRELIMO	RENAMO	MDM
Cabo Delgado Province	66	16	0
Gaza Province	81	1	0
Inhambane Province	54	6	0
Manica Province	63	17	0
Maputo Province	61	18	2
Nampula Province	63	31	0
Niassa Province	46	14	0
Sofala Province	60	13	8
Tete Province	65	17	0
Zambezia Province	69	23	0
Total	628	156	10
Source: STAE

References

1. "Africa Top10 News". 2019-10-15.
2. "UPDATE 5-Mozambique president urges peace, opposition warns against fraud as votes counted".
3. Mozambique sets October 2019 for general elections News24, 11 April 2018
4. "Mozambique opposition files suit against "massive electoral fraud"". france24.com. AFP. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
5. Republic of Mozambique: Election for President (President) IFES
6. Electoral system IPU
7. Ossufo Momade eleito presidente no final congresso da RENAMO Deutsche Welle, 17 January 2019
8. RENAMO depois de Dhlakama: Coesão ou cisões? Deutsche Welle, 14 May 2018
9. Terceiro maior partido moçambicano confirma Daviz Simango como candidato presidencial Observador, 9 May 2019
10. Dércio Tsandzana (13 August 2019). "Who are the presidential candidates in Mozambique's October elections?". Global Voices. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
11. "Newly elected Mozambican MP who lacks upper limbs plans to focus on education". globalvoices.org. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.