Mozambique president-elect urges ‘unity’ amid unrest, citizens fleeing 

Mozambique’s president-elect has called for “non-violence” and “unity” after widespread rioting this week sparked by his governing party’s contested election win.

Daniel Chapo, of the long-governing Frelimo party, said on Friday that he “regretted” the violence, and promised that after his inauguration in mid-January, he would be “the president of all” in the Southern African country, despite opposition claims of widespread vote-rigging.

Chapo’s disputed win in October’s election – which was confirmed by Mozambique’s top court on Monday – prompted a week of unrest, following months of protests.

It has also resulted in thousands of Mozambican citizens fleeing to neighbouring Malawi.

During four days of protests called by opposition leader Venancio Mondlane this week, streets were blocked, and some shops and businesses were looted. Amid the chaos, thousands of inmates also broke free from a prison in Maputo.

Some 134 people were killed in the week of unrest, according to local NGO Plataforma Decide, taking the overall death toll since the elections to at least 261.

Chapo said in his first public statement since the court decision that the worst affected cities were the capital Maputo, neighbouring Matola, the central city of Beira and Nampula in the north.

“These acts only contribute to the decline of the country and the increase in the number of Mozambicans who are heading towards unemployment and poverty,” he said, adding that several police officers died during the clashes.

Frelimo has governed Mozambique since the end of the war against Portuguese colonial rule in 1975.

However, the opposition under Mondlane, which has strong support among Mozambique’s youth population, claimed the October 9 election was rigged.

International observers also pointed to electoral irregularities in the disputed poll, which the Constitutional Council said Chapo won with about 65 percent of the vote.

Amid the post-electoral tensions, more than 2,000 Mozambican families have sought refuge in Malawi this week, Malawian authorities said.

A senior Malawian official said that as of Wednesday, 2,182 Mozambican households fleeing the violence had crossed into Malawi’s Nsanje district, which borders Mozambique.

“The situation remains dire as these individuals urgently require humanitarian assistance,” Nsanje district commissioner Dominic Mwandira said in a letter to the country’s commissioner for refugees seen by the Reuters news agency.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa reporting from Maputo said regional leaders in Africa say they are ready to assist Mozambique resolve its political crisis.

“Countries in the region need Mozambique because they rely on Mozambique’s ports. For example, the fuel that goes to Zimbabwe comes through Mozambique,” she said.

“[Regional countries are] urging leaders in Mozambique to have a dialogue … and resolve the unrest and the political impasse in the country.”