Venâncio Mondlane returns to Mozambique, declares himself president

He stepped out of a gray jumbo jet to the enthusiastic but subdued cheers of a few neon-clad airport employees. At least one fellow passenger approached him for a selfie.

Nearly three months after fleeing Mozambique, saying he feared for his life, opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane made a grand comeback on Thursday to try to reclaim what he insists is rightfully his: the presidency.

Mozambique is expected to inaugurate a new president from the long-ruling Frelimo party on Wednesday. Daniel Chapo of Frelimo won with 65 percent of the vote in the October elections, according to the highest court of the nation. By the official count, Mr. Mondlane had only 24 percent.

After several independent election observers identified irregularities in the vote, Mr. Mondlane spent months arguing that the race was rigged, calling on his supporters to take to the streets. Some protests turned violent, with at least 250 people killed during a police response that human rights groups called unnecessarily brutal.

Mr. Mondlane’s return comes at a delicate time for this mineral- and gas-rich nation of 33 million. The government is struggling to deal with housing and debt crises, and to quell a years-long insurgency backed by the Islamic State. Regional leaders such as South Africa have sent mandates to try to broker a resolution to a political deadlock that has hampered trade and threatens further economic damage.

Yet the open opposition candidate refused to march. “I, Venâncio Mondlane, elected president by the Mozambican people,” he said, raising his right hand in front of a group of news cameras outside the airport in the capital, Maputo, “swear on my honor to serve Mozambique and Mozambicans”.

About a quarter of a mile away, thousands of his supporters crowded police barricades, shouting, “The president is here! The president is here!” under a steady rain. Police kept the crowd at bay with tear gas.

Filipe Nyusi, the current president, gathered the leaders of the main opposition parties for a meeting on Thursday to discuss solutions – an exercise some say lacked credibility because Mr Mondlane was not there. After the meeting, Mr Chapo said the parties had agreed to seek to make changes to the electoral law and the constitution “to accommodate the interests of Mozambicans”.

Mr. Mondlane, 50, might appear to some as an electoral denier and a populist troublemaker. But to his supporters, he is a singular figure at a singular moment. Voters across southern Africa, driven by a restless young population, have rebuked old liberation parties at the polls in the past year.

Corruption, unemployment, inequality and poor living conditions have fueled widespread anger in Mozambique and the region at political leaders seen as out of touch. Mr. Mondlane took that wave of discontent to offer a simple message: he would give the country to the people.

As celebratory crowds poured into Mr Mondlane’s motorcade in Maputo on Thursday, witnesses said police, with little provocation, responded with tear gas and bullets, leaving at least one man dead on the pavement with blood flowing from his head. A police spokesman declined to comment on any fatalities, saying they were still gathering information.

“What people in Mozambique don’t want is Frelimo,” said Francisco Victor Chimene, a 25-year-old pilot, standing next to an open-air market where Mr. Mondlane had earlier addressed a crowd of his supporters. . “What we want is change. We see that Venâncio is going to change this country.”

Educated in agronomy, Mr. Mondlane has a diverse resume. He has worked as a banker, Pentecostal pastor and television expert. His political breakthrough came in 2013, when he unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Maputo. He lost the mayoral race again two years ago, but the result was hotly contested with civil society organizations saying there was massive fraud. A court has ordered a recount in a major district because of irregularities.

After losing a leadership battle in what used to be Mozambique’s main opposition party, Renamo, Mr Mondlane ran for president last year with the support of a smaller party, Podemos. His meteoric rise as a candidate has drawn global attention, won him support from right-wing populist figures abroad, even as young left-wing voters have rallied behind him at home.

In a video posted on social media during last year’s campaign, Mr Mondlane thanked Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president accused of plotting a coup, and called him “a man of God”.

Mr. Mondlane sees Mr. Bolsonaro “as a pioneering man,” said Jonatas Feitosa, the pastor of a conservative evangelical church in Brazil and a friend of Mr. Mondlane. Mr. Bolsonaro called himself the antidote to a left-wing party that had dominated Brazilian politics for more than a decade.

Frelimo, which has its roots in communism, has ruled Mozambique since the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975. But the party has since lost the trust of many Mozambicans because of widespread corruption. The government’s violent response to the post-election demonstrations was seen by many as an indication of Frelimo’s desperate attempt to hold on to power.

During his presidential campaign, Mr. Mondlane traveled to Portugal, where he met with André Ventura, the president of Chega, the far-right nationalist party who supported stricter immigration measures and fought against restitution for former colonies. But Chega has also modeled himself as a champion of the working class, like Mr Mondlane.

Mr. Ventura said in an email that his party hopes to build a common political platform with Mr. Mondlane that focuses on “fighting corruption and crime, defending the family and order, and addressing the collapse of justice and other institutions”.

Mr Mondlane has not publicly addressed his links with right-wing figures abroad. But in a country where most voters struggle to find their next meal or a stable home to live in, those ties are of little importance, said Benjamin Francisco Malate, a 38-year-old businessman.

“The reason we support Venâncio is not because he is from the left or the right,” said Mr. Malate. “We only support the solutions that he presents.”

Some of his proposals include policies that require significant state intervention, such as the construction of three million houses in five years and the financing of businesses for young people and women.

As he stood atop a car surrounded by a crowd of thousands in Maputo on Thursday, Mr. Mondlane said that if the government went ahead with the inauguration next Wednesday, the country would have two presidents. “Who runs this country?” Mr. Mondlane shouted into a loudspeaker.

“It is the people,” answered the crowd.

Ana Ionova contributed to reporting from Rio de Janeiro and Tiago Carrasco from Lisbon.