(Bloomberg) -- Mozambique is facing renewed protests called by the country’s main opposition leader, after he skipped a meeting with the other candidates in last month’s disputed presidential election.
Roads in Maputo, the capital, were blocked and public transport interrupted after Venâncio Mondlane urged supporters to begin a fresh round of demonstrations starting Wednesday and lasting for three days. He suggested people leave their cars on main roads to turn the streets into “parking lots” throughout the day.
The protests, which began Oct. 21, have rocked the southeast African nation that’s enduring its most bitterly disputed election since the advent of democracy in 1994. Demonstrators for much of Wednesday blocked the highway near the main border crossing with South Africa, disrupting a key export route for chrome mines in that country.
The protests show Mondlane continues to rally support that many observers expected would fizzle out. The continued disruption is hitting already strained state finances and risks further delaying a $20 billion natural gas-export project led by TotalEnergies SE.
“It’s unprecedented,” Gustavo Plácido, an analyst at Horizon Engage in Lisbon, said by phone Wednesday. “I’m surprised for how long they’ve been able to sustain the protests.”
A military vehicle accidentally ran someone over on one of the capital’s main roads on Wednesday morning, the defense ministry said in a statement. Dozens of demonstrators hurled stones at police vehicles after the incident, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported.
Police face growing criticism for using disproportionate force — including live ammunition — to disperse protesters, further inflaming tensions. At least 70 people had died by Wednesday, according to a local observer group.
Outgoing President Filipe Nyusi had called the presidential candidates to a meeting at the presidency on Tuesday to discuss the post-election situation. Mondlane, who fled the country Oct. 21 and requested to attend virtually, said he’d not heard back regarding an agenda he’d proposed last week for the gathering.
The two other opposition candidates and the ruling Frelimo party’s Daniel Chapo went to meet Nyusi, but agreed the talks couldn’t continue without Mondlane. According to the state-owned Mozambique Information Agency, the dialog broke down before it even started.
In a livestream on Tuesday that had 2.6 million views by the following morning, Mondlane also called on supporters to return to their cars at 3:30 pm local time to sing the national anthem before going home. People should continue to protest at night by banging pots and pans, he said.
Television pictures showed the Praça dos Combatentes bus station, a major public transit point in Maputo, taken over by people playing soccer in the normally busy street, with no public transport moving. Elsewhere in the city and neighboring Matola, protesters blocked roads.
Official results showed the ruling party won the election with more than 70%, extending its 49-year rule, which Mondlane rejected as fraudulent.
Protests began after unknown assailants shot his lawyer dead, and intensified after the electoral commission announced the vote outcome on Oct. 24. The Constitutional Council has yet to validate the final result, which it anticipates doing by Dec. 23.
(Updates with military statement in the sixth paragraph)
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