MAPUTO, Mozambique, Oct 9, (AP): Mozambique is voting for a new president on Wednesday in an election that is expected to extend the ruling party's 49 years in power since the southern African nation gained independence from Portugal in 1975. Daniel Chapo, 47, is the candidate for the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, or Frelimo, seeking to succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who has served a maximum two terms.

Analysts say the strongest challenge to Chapo and Frelimo's dominance will likely come from 50-year-old independent Venancio Mondlane, a newcomer to national politics. People also will vote for the makeup of Parliament and for provincial governors in a country of some 33 million people that went through a bloody, 15-year civil war that ended in 1992, and more recently has been shaken by an ongoing violent jihadist insurgency in the north.

Ending that insurgency and bringing stability to Cabo Delgado province - where 1.3 million fled their homes and more than half remain displaced - is a pledge by both leading candidates, while poverty, youth unemployment and government corruption are top issues for voters. "I am still selling biscuits at a vegetable market here in Maputo to take care of my two children," 35-year-old Felicidade Simao said at a polling station.

"My husband is unemployed and we are struggling. I want the best for my children and the winner of this election must make the dream of a better life in the future.” Vote-counting is due to start right after polls close in the one-day election. Preliminary results from some areas are expected from Thursday, and the full results must be delivered to the Constitutional Council within 15 days of polls closing to be validated and formally declared.

Around 17 million people are registered to vote. The credibility of the election will be under scrutiny, with the leftist Frelimo party accused of ballot-stuffing and falsifying results in previous votes, including last year's local elections. Frelimo has consistently denied the accusations of election tampering. Teams of regional and international election observers are in Mozambique, including from the European Union.