A lawyer and party official for the main opposition candidate in Mozambique’s recent presidential election was shot dead in his car late Friday night, tensions in the southern African country already on edge after this month’s hotly contested vote. has increased.
Lawyer Elvino Díaz was preparing to challenge in court the results of candidate Venancio Mondlane, whose popularity soared in an October 9 poll, outpacing other opposition candidates. Independent election observers have said there were irregularities that tilted the election in favor of Daniel Chapo, a candidate from the former Frelimo liberation party that has ruled the coastal nation since independence nearly 50 years ago.
The stakes were high in the election campaign to replace President Filipe Nyusi, who is retiring after two terms in office.
Final results have not been announced, but the tallies released so far show Chapo holding a significant lead.
Before his killing, Mondlane, whose charming persona had won widespread support among Mozambique’s disaffected youth, had said he had been lied to and called on Mozambicans to take to the streets in protest. Ta. His party, Podemos, had organized a strike on Monday, with Diaz among the main organizers.
Police said Podemos official Paulo Guambe was also killed when gunmen in two vehicles ambushed the car carrying him and Diaz and opened fire in the capital Maputo.
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