Mozambique\u2019s opposition leader Ven\u00e2ncio Mondlane, who has been calling for protests for weeks from exile, has said he will return to the country on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Mondlane said he would arrive ahead of the swearing-in of a new president next week.<\/p>\n
Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party is due to be sworn next Wednesday after a court confirmed his election victory.<\/p>\n
But Mondlane, the runner-up, rejected the outcome, sparking violent protests that have left dozens dead since October.<\/p>\n
Mondlane left Mozambique the same month saying he feared for his life, after two of his aides were shot dead.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook live address on Sunday, he sent out a defiant message to the authorities saying he \u201cwill be in Maputo. They don\u2019t need to chase me any more\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said he would arrive at 08:05 local time (06:05 GMT) on Thursday at the international airport in Maputo, calling for people to welcome him there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are killing my brothers\u2026 then I will be there. You can do what you want. If you want to murder, murder. If you want to arrest, arrest too. I will be there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mondlane maintains that he won the election and has called for more protests until there is \u201celectoral truth\u201d.<\/p>\n
His supporters have frequently staged violent protests across the country to demand an end to the 49-year-rule of the Frelimo party.<\/p>\n
He has previously said he would\u00a0install himself as president\u00a0on 15 January \u2013 on the presidential inauguration day \u2013 despite the court upholding his rival\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n
The electoral commission initially declared Chapo the winner of the election with 71% of the vote, compared to Mondlane\u2019s 20%.<\/p>\n
The final official results from the constitutional court two weeks ago gave Chapo 65% and Mondlane 24%.<\/p>\n
International election observers have previously said that the vote was flawed, pointing to doctored numbers and other irregularities during the counting process.<\/p>\n
Security forces have sought to end the nationwide protests in a violent crackdown that has tested the country\u2019s stability.<\/p>\n
More than 270 people have been killed, including protesters, children and members of the security forces, according to rights groups.<\/p>\n
The unrest has also affected the economy, with more than 12,000 people losing their jobs and over 500 companies being vandalised.<\/p>\n
Neighbouring countries have also been affected by the political unrest, with thousands of Mozambicans fleeing across the border.<\/p>\n
Outgoing President Filipe Nyusi has in the past called for dialogue to resolve the dispute. On 27 December, Chapo called for \u201cnon-violence\u201d and \u201cunity\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mozambique\u2019s opposition leader Ven\u00e2ncio Mondlane, who has been calling for protests for weeks from exile, has said he will return to the country on Thursday. Mondlane said he would arrive ahead of the swearing-in of a new president next week. Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party is due to be sworn next Wednesday after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}