In a statement released on the Facebook page of the party leader, Adalberto Costa Júnior, UNITA expresses "indignation and concern" about the murders of Elvino Dias, legal advisor to the candidate for the Mozambican presidential elections Venâncio Mondlane, and Paulo Nguambe, representative of his party, highlighting that the "sad events" had a "disgusting political motivation" as they occurred during an election period.
"Thus, the leadership of UNITA condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this macabre act that casts a shadow on the entire Mozambican society", reads the statement, in which the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) declares its solidarity with the Mozambican and international organizations "defenders of democracy and electoral transparency" that join "the cry of the Mozambican people and demand that electoral truth be absolutely respected".
The largest opposition party urges the Mozambican judicial authorities to do their work "without any pressure" and to bring to justice, both the material perpetrators of the crime and, above all, those who ordered it.
UNITA "encourages" Venâncio Mondlane and his Podemos party to continue the "fight for freedom and democracy in Mozambique".
On the other hand, it draws the attention of international institutions to the "need to severely punish governments that carry out constitutional coups, controlling the courts and National Electoral Commissions (CNE), subverting electoral truth, as a way of maintaining power".
UNITA, which won 44 percent of the vote in the 2022 elections, which the MPLA won again, albeit with the worst result ever, complained of electoral fraud, but the Constitutional Court found the allegations insufficient and validated the results.
Mozambican police are, this Monday, dispersing participants in the peaceful marches called by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane after the murder of two supporters.
The police confirmed to Lusa on Saturday that the car in which Elvino Dias, Venâncio Mondlane's lawyer, and Paulo Guambe, representative of Podemos, the party that supports Mondlane, who were shot dead, were traveling was "ambushed".
The crime took place on Avenida Joaquim Chissano, in the center of the capital, and according to the police, a woman who was in the back seats of the vehicle was also shot and taken to the hospital.
The October 9 general elections in Mozambique included the seventh presidential elections – in which the current head of state, Filipe Nyusi, who reached the two-term limit, no longer ran – simultaneously with legislative elections and for provincial assemblies and governors.
The CNE has 15 days to announce the official results, a date that will be met on October 24th, and the Constitutional Council will then be responsible for proclaiming the results, after also completing the analysis of possible appeals, but without a defined deadline for this purpose.
