Mozambique vote counting starts as ruling party eyes another win

MAPUTO, Mozambique - Vote counting started in Mozambique on Wednesday evening for an election that is widely expected to deliver another victory for the ruling Frelimo party, which has been in power since 1975.

Frelimo has been accused consistently of rigging past elections, which it denies. The full results could take up to two weeks.

At one polling station at a school in Maputo, the seaside capital, election observers watched as staff unsealed the plastic ballot boxes and began to tally votes in chalk on a blackboard.

The favourite among four candidates vying to replace President Filipe Nyusi, who is stepping down after serving the two terms allowed by law, is Daniel Chapo, 47, a lawyer viewed as a safe choice for business and a fresh face for the Frelimo party.

Chapo's biggest challenge is thought to be Venancio Mondlane, an independent candidate popular among youth. Former rebel commander Ossufo Momade represents the official opposition party, Renamo, which usually comes a distant second.

The polls closed at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) after a peaceful day of voting. The European Union and local civil society group Mais Integridade said they had not observed any major issues.

But disputes could emerge in the coming days, said Joseph Hanlon, an adviser to Mais Integridade, which runs one of the country's biggest election observation missions.

"Polling day always runs smoothly. The count is much more complicated," he said.

Any contested outcome could trigger protests similar to those which broke out after Frelimo swept last year's municipal elections and which were forcefully suppressed.

Voters in the country of 35 million cited poverty and lack of development as their major concerns, as well as an Islamist insurgency in the north that has forced thousands to flee their homes and halted multi-billion-dollar gas projects.

"We will ask the person who wins to end the conflict in Cabo Delgado because our grandsons are dying ... and we don't want this to happen anymore," said Rosa Tembe, a 72-year-old widow.

Accompanied by his wife, Chapo was among the first to cast his vote in a school in the coastal city of Inhambane.

"I want to say thank you to the people of Mozambique for this opportunity we have today," he told reporters.

Mondlane said the young people of the country would not accept fraud.

"I deeply believe that this time will not be like other times," he said after casting his vote in Maputo's middle-class neighbourhood of Malhangalene, where he lives.

But voters like Keila Sitoe, 28, said that while she hoped for change she did not expect it.

"We don't feel the energy. We are young and things are difficult," she said.

-(Reuters)