Comoros: Leader’s main rivals barred from March vote | AFP

Thirteen candidates have been cleared for the March presidential vote in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, the Supreme Court announced Saturday, barring the main challengers of President Azali Assoumani. Nineteen candidates had registered for the March 24 election and of those given the go ahead, only Azali is backed by a party. The others are contesting as independents. Azali, who was voted into office in 2016, is tipped to win the election. His chief rivals were former vice-president Mohamed Ali Soilih and Ibrahim Mohamed Soule, whose bids for the top job were quashed by the Supreme Court, which is composed exclusively of Azali’s allies.

Comoros: President wins controversial vote extending his powers | AFP

Voters in Comoros overwhelmingly backed controversial constitutional reforms that would allow President Azali Assoumani to run for another term, an electoral official said Monday, following a referendum boycotted by the opposition. The Indian Ocean archipelago has a long history of instability and risks renewed unrest after Assoumani banned demonstrations and the opposition called Monday’s vote “illegal”. “I’ll give you the national results… ‘Yes,’ 172,240 votes, which is 92.74 percent. ‘No,’ 13,338 votes, which is 7.26 percent,” the president of the Comoros National Electoral Commission (CENI), Ahmed Mohamed Djaza, told a briefing in the capital Moroni. Turnout was 63.9 percent, he added.

Comoros: Comoros votes in referendum on increasing president’s power | AFP

Voters in the Comoros went to the polls on Monday in a politically explosive referendum that could change the constitution and allow President Azali Assoumani to rule beyond 2021, his current term limit. Voters were scarce at several polling stations in the capital Moroni as the day began, AFP reporters witnessed. Burdened by a long history of turbulence, the Indian Ocean archipelago risks renewed unrest after Assoumani banned demonstrations and the opposition vowed to fiercely resist the proposed changes. Opposition lawmakers had demanded an “unconditional halt without delay to the arbitrary and illegal process” of the referendum, which they said they would boycott.

Comoros: Vice-president denounces ‘illegal’ referendum | AFP

The Comoran vice-president has denounced as “illegal” a planned July referendum on constitutional reform that could allow President Azali Assoumani to seek re-election. Assoumani only took office in 2016 but wants to hold a fresh vote next year, two years early, so that he can remain in power beyond 2021 when his currently non-renewable term would otherwise end. The referendum, scheduled for July 29, could change the current system — which sees power rotate every five years between the archipelago’s three main islands — and enable the president to run for two fresh five year-terms.

Comoros: Former coup leader elected Comoros president: provisional results | AFP

Former coup leader Azali Assoumani was elected as president of Comoros, according to provisional results released Thursday, after last month’s election was partially re-run due to violence and “irregularities”. In the re-run at 13 polling stations, Assoumani beat Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi by 2,271 votes to 1,308, the electoral commission said, confirming his narrow victory in April. Two percent of the electorate were able to vote again Wednesday on Anjouan, one of the three main islands of the archipelago nation set off the east coast of Africa. Hundreds of people waited in line during the day as armed security forces stood guard to ensure polling was smooth. Last month, voting on Anjouan was tarnished by broken ballot boxes, interruptions in voting, accusations of ballot stuffing and some incidents of violence.

Comoros: Presidential vote re-run ends under tight security | AFP

Several thousand voters in Comoros, the archipelago nation off the east coast of Africa, went to the polls Wednesday in a partial re-run of the presidential election with the result hanging in the balance. Former coup leader Azali Assoumani won last month’s run-off vote by just 2,100 votes, according to provisional results, but a court ordered 13 polling stations on Anjouan island to vote again due to “irregularities”. Polls closed at 1500 GMT and voting passed off without any major incidents, according to an AFP journalist. Just 6,305 voters were called to vote on Wednesday, two percent of the Comoros electorate.

Comoros: Court orders partial re-run of presidential poll | AFP

The Comoros constitutional court on Saturday ordered a partial re-run of the country’s April 10 presidential ballot due to “irregularities”, a decision that could reverse the close election result. In a court ruling, president of the Constitutional Court Loutfi Soulaimane asked newly-elected leader Azali Assoumani and elections minister Mohamed el-Had Abbasto to take steps to re-run the second-round poll in 13 constituencies by May 15. The repeat vote could throw into the question the entire election result because of the narrow margin by which former coup leader Assoumani won, according to provisional results.

Comoros: Comoros votes in tense presidential run-off election | AFP

Comoros election officials began counting ballots late Sunday after a tense three-way presidential run-off poll featuring the current vice president and a former coup leader who ruled the country for seven years. The day of voting was marred by a number of incidents notably on Anjouan, one of the three islands which make up the Indian Ocean archipelago. Results in the race to succeed outgoing President Ikililou Dhoinine are not expected before Wednesday. The second round of the presidential race comes after Vice President Mohamed Ali Soilihi — known as Mamadou — won the disputed first round in February with 17.88 percent of the vote.

Comoros: Key presidential poll runoff set for Sunday | Africa News

Presidential candidates are forming alliances ahead of the presidential runoff in the Comoros Island scheduled for April 10. A camp of the Juwa main opposition party has announced that it will support Azali Assoumani – a colonel who came third during the first round. The Juwa party did not make it to the second round and the controversial agreement is creating divisions within the opposition party. What we have just done today, is just the beginning, it shows that a single party cannot govern this country, We must unite to bring our country out of the abyss.

Comoros: 19 candidates dispute Comoros presidential results | AFP

Nineteen of the 25 candidates in the presidential elections in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros on Thursday challenged the results of the weekend vote and demanded a recount. The candidates threatened to block the election run-off if their demands for new counting are not met. “We need to conduct a re-count,” Ibrahima Hissani, spokesman for the 19 dissenters, told a new conference. “There will be no second round before the recount.” Among those disputing the results is a former president, Colonel Azali Assoumani, who came third in Sunday’s vote and has secured a place in the second round due in April.

Comoros: Vice President wins first round of presidential vote | AFP

The vice president of the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros, Mohamed Ali Soilihi, won the first round of the country’s presidential elections with 17.61 percent of the vote, preliminary results released late Tuesday showed. Soilihi edged ahead of Mouigni Baraka, the governor of Grande Comore island, who garnered 15.09 percent, ahead of Colonel Azali Assoumani, who placed third with 14.96 percent. The three candidates will now face off in a second-round of voting on April 10, with the winner succeeding outgoing President Ikililou Dhoinine.

Comoros: Crowded field competes for Comoros president | AFP

Voters in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros cast their ballots in an election for a new president Sunday from a crowded field of 25 candidates, with a struggling economy and poor infrastructure high on the agenda. Officials started counting the ballots after polling stations closed, using candlelight and camping lamps in a country that suffers from endemic electricity shortages that paralyse the economy, said an AFP journalist in Moroni. Polling in the country of less than one million people took place without any major incidents, although some were delayed by the late arrival of voting materials. Voting in areas affected by delays continued after the official closing time at 6:00 pm.

Comoros: Election campaigning begins in Comoros | Medafrica Times

The electoral campaign has started in Comoros on Sunday ahead of the country’s presidential election to be held next-month. Twenty-five candidates out of 28 have been cleared to run in the first round of the presidential elections in the Indian Ocean archipelago. The first round of voting will take place on February 21, with the top three candidates to face off in a second round on April 18. Former president Azali Assoumani, who launched his presidential campaign in Moroni, reminded citizens that electoral fraud has caused untold suffering in many countries across Africa.

Comoros: 25 candidates vying for presidency in Comoros | AFP

Twenty-five candidates out of 28 have been cleared to run in the first round of next month’s presidential elections in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros, the Constitutional Court confirmed in a ruling on Saturday. All the remaining hopefuls come from the island of Grande Comore, which is next in line to hold the post in compliance with a 2001 constitutional provision stipulating that the presidency should rotate among the three islands that make up the Comoros.

Comoros: Observers Declare Comoros Legislative Election Free, Transparent | Bloomberg

International observers monitoring the second round of legislative elections in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros declared the vote free and transparent. Voting held on Sunday on the archipelago took place in an atmosphere of “transparency, freedom and serenity,” Samuel Azu’u Fonkam, head of the observer mission sent by the International Francophonie Organization, told reporters in the capital, Moroni. Municipal elections took place alongside the vote for legislators.

Comoros: Isolated incidents as Comoros votes ahead of 2016 presidential race | AFP

Voters in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros returned to the polls Sunday in the second round of a parliamentary election seen as a test for former leader Abdallah Sambi, a Muslim populist preparing a comeback. Minor incidents were reported during the vote, the results of which will give an indication of Sambi’s support ahead of next year’s presidential election. Fist fights broke out at two polling stations in the capital Moroni on Grande Comore island, between supporters of Sambi’s Juwa party and members of another party, an AFP reporter witnessed. In another district, shops owned by people from Anjouan — another of the three islands making up Comoros, which is Sambi’s home island — were defaced with graffiti.

Comoros: Voters go to polls in Comoros ahead of 2016 presidential race | AFP

Voters went to the polls Sunday in the chronically unstable Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros in a parliamentary election seen as a test for former leader Abdallah Sambi, a Muslim populist poised to make a comeback. The vote, which was reported to be peaceful, is the first in a cycle of legislative and local government polls culminating in 2016 presidential elections. “Turnout has been very high, above 60 percent,” the Interior Minister told AFP before midnight local time (2100 GMT). “The emerging indications show Juwa (Sambi’s party) in the lead.” Ismael Saadi, the head of the election monitor in the Comoros, said voter participation had reached 60 to 70 percent. Polling booths opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT), with voting slow off the mark in the capital, Moroni, but with long queues snaking through small villages elsewhere.