Mozambique Votes amid Unrest

Mozambicans turned out Wednesday to cast ballots in local elections despite concerns that an upsurge in political violence would mar voting.

Polling was calm in zones worst affected by recent, deadly fighting between government troops and supporters of the main opposition party Renamo, according to local media reports.

Renamo, the government's former civil war enemy, is boycotting the elections but denies it plans to disrupt them.

President Armando Guebuza said there was a high turnout in a sign of confidence in his Frelimo ruling party.

"We continue to have the people's confidence in us, and that has been shown in people's participation in the vote," Guebuza said after casting his ballot in the capital, Maputo.

Voters are electing mayors and local assembly members in 53 municipalities. In 2008, Frelimo won all but one municipality.

The vote is seen as a key indicator of Frelimo's grip on power less than a year before the country goes to presidential polls next October.

Electoral officials are yet to give an indication of turnout levels.

But abstention levels are traditionally high among Mozambican voters, particularly in municipal polls, held a year in advance of national and presidential elections. In 2008 less than half the number of registered voters turned up to vote.

Renamo has shunned this year's municipal polls, demanding that election laws first be overhauled to ensure it has equal representation on election bodies.

In the village of Gorongosa, where government troops overran the former military command of Renamo's leader, Afonso Dhlakama, in late October, streets were calm, according to residents.

Voters in he area had on the eve of the election vowed not to go out to vote for fear of an outbreak of violence.

"A lot of people stayed at home," an unidentified voter in the village told state-controlled Radio Mozambique. But he added: "We think it is going well... there are no problems."

Since late October guerrillas from Renamo's military wing have been fighting a low-level insurgency against government forces in the central province of Sofala.

Analysts say that, this time, voters are more concerned with seeing the government come to a political agreement with Renamo than going to the polls.

"The lack of progress by both parties towards a concrete peace deal makes people not so enthusiastic about local elections," Mozambican political analyst Egidio Vaz told AFP.

"Everyone is really interested in making sure this country is not being dragged to war again," he added.