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Mozambique: Voters cast their ballots in the Presidential and general election
Mozambican voter casts her ballot in the country’s general elections, Oct. 15, 2014. PHOTO/Ferhat Momade/AP
Voters in Mozambique started casting their ballots Wednesday in the general and presidential election shortly after 7:00 am local time (0100 EDT) in a tough electoral test for the ruling FRELIMO party that has run the resource-rich country since independence in 1975.
FRELIMO is facing growing discontent amid an apparent popular swing towards the opposition. Voter surveys cannot be published in Mozambique, but judging from the turnout at some campaign rallies, the ruling party could be in for a shock. Its glitzy final rally in the capital Maputo, failed to attract a capacity crowd.
Twenty-seven parties and two coalitions are competing for the favor of 10.9 million registered voters in the presidential race, plus polls for national and provincial assemblies.
Analysts say that while FRELIMO is expected to win the election, the opposition is likely to make significant inroads, reducing the ruling party’s overwhelming majority of 75 percent garnered in the last vote.
Opposition ballots are likely to be split between the former rebel Mozambican National Resistance (RENAMO) and its breakaway Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM).
RENAMO, which has lost all elections since the end of the country’s 15-year civil war in 1992, has made a comeback, trying to spruce up its image.
The desire for change has been driven by a wealth gap that persists despite huge mineral resources, with the country’s rapid economic growth sidestepping the bulk of a population.
“Candidates have been promising us change, and that is what I want to see,” said Eduardo, 28, an unemployed agriculture graduate who has been looking for a job for more than two years.
