Mozambique's presidential election: Here's what to know

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Mozambicans are expected to turn out in large numbers on Wednesday for an election that will choose a successor to President Filipe Nyusi after his two terms.

Close to 17 million voters in the southern African nation of 31 million people are registered to vote for the next president along with 250 members of parliament and provincial assemblies.

While the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, or Frelimo, is widely expected to retain power, at least four candidates have been campaigning to bring change to a country which faces a yearslong jihadist insurgency in its north and whose long Indian Ocean coastline is vulnerable to extreme climate conditions like flooding.

Over 1.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to the insurgency, while millions more have faced severe food shortages due to drought.

The local elections held in Mozambique a year ago were marred by allegations of vote-rigging and fraud, sparking violent protests in the capital, Maputo, and surrounding areas. This time, concerns have been muted.

Here's what to know about Wednesday's vote:

The ruling Frelimo party, which has been in power since independence from Portugal in 1975, has fielded David Chapo as its presidential candidate. The 47-year-old Chapo is a former governor of the southern province of Inhambane, a strong driver of the country's tourism economy.

Chapo is expected to face the most competition from 50-year-old Venacio Mondlane, a banker and forestry engineer who runs as an independent candidate under the slogan “Save Mozambique, this country’s ours" and has drawn large crowds.

Mondlane is backed by the Optimistic Party for the Development of Mozambique, or Podemos, set up by dissidents from the ruling party. He ran as a mayoral candidate in local elections last year, and his supporters alleged that he won but was robbed.

The Democratic Movement of Mozambique has fielded Lutero Simango. His party was created in 2008, breaking away from the rebel group-turned-opposition party Mozambique National Resistance, or Renamo. Simango's party resonates with youth because of its policies on inequality and jobs.

Renamo is represented by Ossufo Momade, who became the party's head after the death of the charismatic Afonso Dhlakama, a former rebel leader who died in 2018.

Mozambique has been fighting an Islamic State-affiliated group that has launched attacks on communities in the northern province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, including beheadings.

Around 600,000 of the 1.3 million people who fled have since returned home, many to shattered communities where houses, markets, churches, schools and health facilities have been destroyed, the United Nations said earlier this year.

The candidates have promised to address development issues exacerbated by the insurgency, including the halting of a crucial gas project by French energy company TotalEnergies in northern Mozambique as a result of the extremist rebel insurgency there.

Mozambique also faces high levels of unemployment and hunger, exacerbated by El Nino-induced severe drought. According to the U.N. World Food Program, 1.3 million people face severe food shortages.

The ruling Frelimo party has been tainted by corruption scandals, including the so-called “tuna bond” scandal in which former finance minister Manuel Chang was jailed earlier this year for taking payoffs to arrange secret loan guarantees for government-controlled fishing companies.

The loans were plundered, and Mozambique ended up with $2 billion in “hidden debt,” spurring a financial crisis as the International Monetary Fund halted financial support.

There is just one day of voting and counting starts immediately, with partial results announced as they trickle in. Official results will be announced by the National Election Commission after 15 days and subsequently validated by the Constitutional Council. Any party may file objections with the council, which will decide whether they have merit.

Magome reported from Johannesburg.

Follow AP's Africa coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A building displays ruling party posters in support of presidential candidate Daniel Chapo ahead of elections in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

A woman sits between bread rolls in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 ahead of elections to be held in the country. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

Supporters take part in a ruling party rally to support presidential candidate Daniel Chapo ahead of elections, in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

A pedestrian passes a wall of election posters in Maputo, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, ahead of elections to be held in Mozambique. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

A poster of independent candidate Venacio Mondlane is held at an election rally on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 in Maputo ahead of elections in Mozambique. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

Independent candidate Venacio Mondlane, atop truck, attends an election rally in Maputo, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 ahead of elections to be held in Mozambique. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

Supporters take part in a ruling party rally for presidential candidate Daniel Chapo, centre, ahead of elections, in Maputo, Mozambique, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Carlos Uqueio)

The path for the NFL's Washington Commanders to return to the nation’s capital is clear after an on-again, off-again saga in Congress ended early Saturday with a postmidnight reprieve.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution to transfer the land including old RFK Stadium from the federal government to the District of Columbia. The D.C. Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act passed by voice vote at roughly 1:15 a.m. after more than a year of lobbying and support from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., district Mayor Muriel Bowser, Commanders controlling owner Josh Harris and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

“We are extremely grateful that our elected officials have come together on a bipartisan basis to give Washington, D.C., the opportunity to decide on the future of the RFK Stadium site," Harris said. "This bill will create an equal playing field so that all potential future locations for the home of the Washington Commanders can be fairly considered and give our franchise the opportunity to provide the best experience for all of our fans.”

The RFK Stadium land provision was part of Congress’ initial short-term spending bill Tuesday before it was torpedoed by President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of whom amplified misinformation about the site on his social media platform X. Two versions of the House's slimmed-down bill, including the one that passed Friday night to avoid a government shutdown, did not include it.

Giving the local government control of the land for the next 99 years allows for the decaying husk of the old stadium to be torn down and the site redeveloped for any number of things. One of the possibilities is a football stadium and surrounding entertainment options at the franchise's former home.

“We appreciate the bipartisan group of Congressional leaders who made this important breakthrough possible,” the NFL said in a statement. “Washington, D.C., will now have a long-overdue seat at the table when it comes to the location of a new Commanders stadium.”

Bowser called it “a win for D.C., for our region and for America.”

“Everybody loves a good comeback story — and that’s D.C.’s story,” she said.

All that awaits is President Joe Biden's signature to become law, which could come as soon as Saturday. Comer went as far as saying that Senate passage of the bill is “a historic moment for our nation's capital.”

“If Congress failed to act today, this decaying land in Washington would continue to cost taxpayers a fortune to maintain,” he said. “Revitalizing this RFK Memorial Stadium site has been a top economic priority for the city. ... This bipartisan success is a testament to the House Oversight Committee’s unwavering effort to protect taxpayers and our full commitment to ensuring a capital that is prosperous for residents and visitors for generations to come.”

Playing in Washington again is no sure thing. The Commanders are also considering other places in the district, Maryland and Virginia to build a stadium in the coming years.

Their lease at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, runs through 2027. Harris called 2030 a “reasonable target” for a new stadium.

The team played at RFK Stadium 2 miles (3.22 kilometers) east of the Capitol from 1961-96 before moving to Maryland. Harris and several co-owners, including Mitch Rales and Mark Ein, grew up as Washington football fans during that era, which included the glory days of three Super Bowl championships from 1982-91.

Ein said on social media, “Still many steps to go and even bigger than a possible stadium last night’s bill was an extraordinary moment of bi-partisan and regional cooperation to do something big and important and get 174 acres of unused, blighted and critical land to DC so they can bring it back to life.”

Part of the way the provision got into the bill initially involved an agreement between the team and Maryland to tear down the current stadium in a timely fashion and redevelop the site with a project of equal economic impact, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press earlier this week on condition of anonymity because the deal was not being publicized.

After the Senate greenlit the RFK Stadium land transfer, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, said they continued to believe their state's partnership with the team should continue long into the future.

“After working to level the financial playing field, and receiving assurances that should the team move they will redevelop the existing site in a manner that meets the needs of the community, tonight we supported the proposed land transfer legislation,” Cardin and Van Hollen said. "We have always supported the District’s effort to control its own land, and through regional discussions and cooperation, our concerns with this proposal have been addressed.”

The team has played games in Maryland since 1997 and practices in Ashburn, Virginia, not far from Dulles International Airport.

A return to the district would be another victory for Bowser, who on Thursday celebrated the start of an $800 million downtown arena renovation that is keeping the NBA's Wizards and NHL's Capitals in town. At that news conference, she took aim at Musk for sharing incorrect information on X, formerly Twitter, about taxpayers footing the bill for a new stadium.

The bill specifically prohibits the use of federal funds for a stadium on the site, “including training facilities, offices, and other structures necessary to support a stadium.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

FILE - A vehicle pushes up pikes of snow after trucks dump their loads of snow in the parking lots of RFK Stadium in Washington, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)