Early Tally Points to Victory for Mozambique's Ruling Party

Mozambique's ruling Frelimo party is likely to sweep hard-fought presidential and legislative elections, according to first results and unofficial projections released Thursday.

A partial vote count and projections by civil society groups suggested Frelimo's Filipe Nyusi will become the country's new president, winning around 60 percent, a huge drop from the 75 percent won by the party's candidate in the 2009 election.

With just over eight percent of polling stations reporting, Nyusi held 61 percent of vote, according to the official tally, which was in line with the groups' forecasts.

"Preliminary numbers and projections indicate the Frelimo will win a landslide victory," said a report by the Center for Public Integrity and Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa.

The vote took place against a backdrop of rising discontent over vast income disparities, despite mineral resources windfall.

Rapid economic growth has not benefited the bulk of a population that is among the world's poorest.

Nyusi's main opponent, rebel turned opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama of Renamo, was trailing in the second position with 31 percent of votes, according to the projection.

The third and youngest of the presidential candidates Daviz Simango, was in the third position with eight percent, a similar percentage to his tally in 2009.

Voting was largely peaceful aside from sporadic clashes between police and opposition activists who claim that Frelimo, which has run the southern African country since independence from Portugal in 1975, tried to stuff ballot boxes.

The projections suggest a more balanced 250-seat parliament with Frelimo's count reduced from 191 to 142, Renamo upping its presence from 51 seats to 75 and MDM from eight to 31 seats.

Nyusi, an engineer and former defense minister, is Frelimo's candidate to replace incumbent President Armando Guebuza, who is prohibited by the constitution from running for a third term.

Despite poverty and unemployment, many voters indicated they were sticking with the ruling party.