Comoros President Azali Assoumani clinched his fourth term in a contested poll denounced by the opposition as “fraudulent.”
The electoral body, CENI, declared his victory with 63% of the vote, yet only 16% of the population participated due to an opposition boycott.
Accusations of ballot stuffing and premature closure of polls surfaced, as opposition candidates protested, while Mr. Assoumani’s campaign team refuted the allegations.
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The Indian Ocean archipelago witnessed a field of six candidates in the January 14 presidential election.
“We cannot talk about results because there was no election,” Mouigni Baraka Said Soilihi, one of Mr Assoumani’s opponents, said.
Despite reported irregularities by the opposition, international poll observers asserted that the voting process was predominantly free and fair.
The election commission disclosed that out of 189,000 registered voters, only 55,259 (16%) participated in the presidential election.
This low turnout resulted from opposition candidates urging a boycott, diverting some voters to only engage in the simultaneous gubernatorial elections.
With over 330,000 registered voters in a population estimated at 836,000 by the World Bank, the poll reflected a significant disparity.
President Azali Assoumani, a former military officer who initially seized power through a coup in 1999, secured his fourth term after winning the 2016 election.
His return to politics followed a hiatus in 2006, and controversially, a 2018 referendum eliminated presidential term limits, allowing him to pursue a fourth term amidst widespread protests.
Assoumani’s leadership has faced criticism for alleged oppression, including the imprisonment and exile of political adversaries. Despite this, he currently holds the position of chairperson of the African Union.
