Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Associated Press - December 21, 2004
Mozambique's Electoral Commission said Guebuza got 64% of the presidential vote, and that his ruling Frelimo party took control of the 251-seat Parliament by winning 161 seats in the Dec. 1-2 vote.
The commission said Afonso Dhlakama, the leader the main opposition Renamo party, finished second in the presidential race for the third consecutive election, getting 29% of the vote. His party also won the other 90 seats in Parliament.
Only between 30% and 40% of Mozambique's eligible voters cast ballots in what had been seen before the vote as a close and fiercely contested election to choose a successor to popular, longtime President Joaquim Chissano.
Most observers had predicted the election would be so close that it would require a runoff between Guebuza, a wealthy businessman and former controversial interior minister, and Dhlakama, a former right-wing guerrilla leader in Mozambique's 16-year civil war. The war ended in 1992.
Opposition parties, led by Renamo and Dhlakama, have claimed massive fraud in the election and have demanded a new election. International observers have called the vote largely free and fair.
Dhlakama, who waged a ruinous 16-year civil war against the then-Marxist Frelimo government, has lost two previous bids for the presidency since peace was restored in 1992.
The low turnout stunned and baffled electoral officials and raised questions about whether Mozambicans are losing faith in the ability of their fledgling democracy to make substantial changes in their life.
Mozambique is one of the poorest countries on Earth. The vast majority of its people live in absolute poverty, earning less than a dollar a day. Largely because of AIDS , life expectancy here has fallen to 40 years. Most people are illiterate.
The country has made dramatic gains, posting impressive economic growth that has averaged more than 7% a year for the last decade. But the benefits of progress have been unevenly distributed and people have grown disillusioned with government.
Before the elections, both politicians and analysts here believed that disillusionment had been channeled into a drumbeat for change. Opposition parties tried to capitalize on it by promising new leadership.
Even the ruling party promised change, new approaches, new ideas and a better life.
Independent Mozambican political analyst Tomas Vieria Mario believes voters became so disenchanted with the empty promises of change that they simply decided it didn't matter who won.
"The voters seemed to believe that their vote would make no change in their daily lives. They seem to be questioning whether democracy can make a difference," said Mario.
He dismissed claims by 19 opposition parties that the low turnout and Frelimo victory was the result of voter fraud and manipulation of the electoral system by the governing party.
"There were some irregularities, but not enough to explain the overwhelming defeat of the opposition," said Mario.
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