The Police reinforced the contingent at some polling stations and carried out shooting and arrests following social unrest due to alleged fraud attempts already recorded in the repeat voting in four municipalities.
The district of Gurué, in the province of Zambézia, central Mozambique, is under tension, with the police firing shots to disperse the population who attacked two men suspected of having completed ballot papers, according to images broadcast on local television.
In contact with Lusa, the spokesperson for the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) in Zambézia confirmed that there had been some unrest in Gurué, but did not confirm that shots had been fired.
“There was a small commotion and the police quickly brought it under control.
The Police were called to restore order, raise awareness and calm tempers”, said Miguel Caetano, adding that the process is now taking place in an orderly manner in Gurué and also in Milange, another municipality that repeats the vote.
In the municipality of Marromeu, in Sofala, also in central Mozambique, a presiding officer and a member of the Democratic Movement of Mozambique (MDM, third parliamentary force) were detained for allegedly having completed voting forms.
“After the first incidents of the morning, the Police were forced to reinforce the contingent to guarantee order at the polling stations spread across the municipality”, said Izidro Nhamussua, PRM district commander in Marromeu, during a press conference.
More Integrity denounces irregularities Election observers also denounced an atmosphere of tension in the first hours of the election, with records of “several irregularities, illicit activities, violence before and after the opening of the vote”.
“This situation, in general, is worrying the Peace Room due to the fact that these elections are the repetition of a process that we already had on October 11th, which means that we should have already learned some basic elements of coexistence electoral campaign,” said Duarte Amaral, spokesperson for Sala da Paz, a Mozambican association that observes the elections.
The Mais Integridade Electoral Consortium, which monitors the process at 72 polling stations, also denounced “attempts at fraud, including friction between poll chairs and opposition candidate delegates”, as well as impediments to observation.
“Mais Integridade observers were able to observe the start of voting at all tables in Nacala-Porto and Gurúè, but in Marromeu there are many cases of impediment to observation, affecting at least 15% of the tables in that municipality, although they are being gradually resolved”, said the consortium, in a note sent to the media.
Observers also reported that there was little adherence to the process in some voting stations, noting the punctuality in the opening of the tables.