Access to social media in Mozambique was restricted for the second time in a week Thursday, a global internet watchdog said, as the opposition called for strikes over a disputed presidential election.”We can confirm social media restrictions have been imposed in Mozambique,” London-based internet watchdog NetBlocks said, adding it affected Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.Mozambique’s opposition leader Venancio Mondlane, 50, of the small Podemos party, called for a nationwide strike from October 31 to November 7.It was unclear if his call to “paralyse” the country would be followed but the capital Maputo was a ghostcity on Thursday.Police sent out text messages on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, including to an AFP reporter, instructing residents not to participate in acts of “sabotage”.The public prosecutor also issued a statement saying that while it was a “fundamental right” to protest, “anyone who… causes material or personal damage shall be punished.”Last week, the electoral commission declared Daniel Chapo, 47, winner of the election with 70 percent of votes while Mondlane came in second with 20 percent. Chapo is a member of the ruling Frelimo party which has been in power for 49 years. After the results were announced, opposition supporters took to the streets in protests that were supressed by the police. Human Rights Watch said at least 11 people were killed by security forces on October 24 and 25 and more than 50 others were injured.Election observers, including from the European Union, have noted serious flaws before, during and after the vote.Mondlane and his Podemos party on Sunday seized the country’s Constitutional Court asking for a ballot recount. The judificial body has since then requested results sheets and minutes of polling stations in six provinces and Maputo from the electoral commission, giving them eight days to produce the documents.Â
