MAPUTO, 28 NOVEMBER - Local elections held on 19 November in 33 Mozambican municipalities have confirmed the overwhelming support the ruling Frelimo party enjoys, especially in the southern region of the country, while the main opposition party Renamo made some gains in the central province of Sofala and in some coastal districts of the northern province of Nampula.

Although the results await confirmation of the electoral commission by 4 December, preliminary official results show what national and foreign observers and journalists had already learned from the notices stuck on polling station walls, namely that the ruling Frelimo party has won in the great majority of municipalities (29 out of 33).

Preliminary results show that Frelimo scored significant victories in cities of the centre and north, such as Chimoio, Quelimane and Nampula, and won the capital city, Maputo, while Renamo won the race for mayor and the municipal assembly in the second city of Beira.

The opposition Renamo-Electoral Union has won in just four municipalities - Beira (Sofala province), Angoche, Nacala and Mozambique Island (Nampula province).

Frelimo supporters went to the polls in reasonable numbers in the south of the country, even though there was not the slightest chance that their candidates would be defeated. Renamo supporters in the provinces of Sofala and Nampula had shown a similar determination and, as a result, the opposition defeated the ruling party in four municipalities.

The full results from Sofala's provincial capital, Beira, confirmed what everyone in the city already knew - that the main opposition force, the Renamo-Electoral Union coalition, and its mayoral candidate Davis Simango, are the winners. Renamo's victory in Sofala was secured in the rural areas where the majority of its supporters live.

The results from Beira were announced on the night of 26 November, in the presence of representatives of the National Elections Commission (CNE), under security measures.

The Provincial Commission of Elections solved the problem of the missing results sheets ("editais") from ten polling stations of Beira, by leaving them out of the count. This problem now goes to the CNE, which must figure out if there is any way to recover them.

As for other 13 editais that had been tampered with, the real results from these could be included, since the crude fraud (adding a "1" in front of the total for the Frelimo candidate) was easily detected.

The results from Beira are as follows:
For mayor of Beira:

• Davis Simango (Renamo) 29,535 (53.4%)
• Djalma Lourenco (Frelimo) 23,378 (42.03%)
• Antonio Romao (IPADE) 1,440 (2.6%)
• Pedro Langa (PIMO) 943 (1.07%)

• Renamo 30,826 (54.6%)
• Frelimo 23,304 (41.2%)
• LIPADE 1,735 (3.1%)
• Independent party (PIMO) 626 (1.1%)

Regarding to the Mozambican capital, there were no surprises on the results of the local elections held on 19 November. Frelimo and its mayoral candidate Eneas Comiche won taking three quarters of the votes, and the main opposition, the Renamo-Electoral Union, coming a poor second.

The results of the election were as follows:
For mayor of Maputo:

• Eneas Comiche (Frelimo) 95,329 (75.21%)
• Artur Vilanculos (Renamo) 15,151 (11.95%)
• Phillippe Gagnaux (JPC) 12,623 (9.96%)
• Carlos Jeque (IPADE) 2,499 (1.97%)
• Pedro Loforte (AMAR) 1,149 (0.91%)

• Frelimo 95,099 (76.08%)
• Renamo 15,935 (12.75%)
• JPC 10.047 (8.04%)
• AMAR 1,165 (0.93%)
• Independent Party (PIMO) 838 (0.67%)
• Labour Party (PT) 781 (0.62%)
• Ecologist Party 645 (0.52%)
• Green Party 338 (0.27%)

In other municipalities, according to "intermediate count" (intermediate, because it is in between the initial count at the polling stations, and the final corrections made by the National Elections Commission, CNE), the ruling party Frelimo and its mayoral candidates defeated all the other runners. (SARDC)

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