By Nellie Peyton
MAPUTO (Reuters) -Voting was underway in Mozambique in a tense general election highly likely to deliver victory for the ruling party, Frelimo, which has governed the southern African nation since 1975.
Poverty is the major concern for Mozambique’s 35 million people, half of whom are registered to vote, along with an Islamist insurgency in the north that has forced thousands to flee their homes and halted multi-billion-dollar gas projects.
The favourite among four candidates vying to replace President Filipe Nyusi, as he steps down after serving two terms, is Daniel Chapo, 47, a lawyer viewed as a safe choice for business and a fresh face for the long-ruling party.
Accompanied by his wife, Chapo was among the first to cast his vote in a school in the coastal city of Inhambane.
“I want to say thank you to the people of Mozambique for this opportunity we have today,” he told reporters.
Chapo faces off against Venancio Mondlane, a charismatic independent candidate who draws huge crowds, former rebel commander Ossufo Momade, and a small opposition party leader, Lutero Simango.
Among those who braved early morning rain to queue to cast their votes in Maputo, the capital, was 22-year-old student Augusto Ndeve Pais.
“I feel hopeful … People my age are worried about the future of our country, so I think they will vote,” Pais said, declining to say for whom he was voting.
Counting will start after the polls close at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), but official results can take up to two weeks.
Frelimo first allowed elections in 1994 and has since been accused of rigging them, charges it denies. A rebel force turned opposition party, Renamo, usually comes a distant second place.
“This election is different because we have new actors … (but) Frelimo has a big probability to win,” said analyst Dercio Alfazema.
A disputed outcome would probably trigger protests similar to those which broke out after Frelimo swept last year’s municipal elections and which were forcefully suppressed.
But many also feel the elections will change little.
Keila Sitoe, 28, voted with her 21-year-old sister in Maputo. Both, who said they hope for change but do not expect it, declined to reveal their picks.
“We don’t feel the energy. We are young and things are difficult,” said Sitoe, who is also a student.
In the city’s middle-class neighbourhood of Malhangalene, where Mondlane lives, voter Rosa Tembe, a 72-year-old widow, hoped for peace in the country’s northern Cabo Delgado province.
“We will ask the person who wins to end the conflict in Cabo Delgado because our grandsons are dying… and we don’t want this to happen anymore,” she said.
(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Manuel Mucari; Additional reporting by Thando Hlophe and Sisipho Skweyiya; Writing by Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Sandra Maler and Clarence Fernandez)
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