Mozambique: early results show ruling party leading after opposition boycotted municipal vote

A woman, right, holding her baby, displays her hands to an election official, left, to show that she has not previously voted, during municipal elections held in the city of Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Mozambicans are voting in municipals elections amid tension and sporadic violence between the government and the main opposition group, which says it is boycotting the election. State radio said voting was proceeding peacefully on Wednesday, a day after the opposition Renamo group said it had no intention of disrupting the vote. (AP Photo/Ferhat Momade) (The Associated Press)

A woman holding her baby casts her vote, during municipal elections held in the city of Maputo, Mozambique, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. Mozambicans are voting in municipals elections amid tension and sporadic violence between the government and the main opposition group, which says it is boycotting the election. State radio said voting was proceeding peacefully on Wednesday, a day after the opposition Renamo group said it had no intention of disrupting the vote. (AP Photo/Ferhat Momade) (The Associated Press)

Preliminary results show Mozambique's ruling party leading in municipal elections after the main opposition group boycotted the polls.

Radio Mozambique on Thursday reported that the ruling Frelimo party won in central Gondola, the first municipality where all polling stations completed the count from Wednesday's vote. Frelimo also swept municipalities in several northern provinces, including Nampula, a stronghold of Renamo, the main opposition party and former rebel group whose fighters have staged ambushes in recent months.

State media say another opposition group, the Mozambique Democratic Movement, made inroads in the capital Maputo, a Frelimo stronghold.

Renamo says the electoral law is biased in favor of Frelimo. The two sides fought a civil war after independence from Portugal in 1975. A peace deal was signed in 1992.

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