Incumbent President Azali Assoumani was re-elected as the President of Comoros on Tuesday with over 60 per cent votes, according to CENI, the electoral body of the country.
The Chief of Electoral Commission Djaza Ahmed Mohamed informed that Azali, who first took office in 2016, was way ahead of his closest rival Mahamoudou Ahamada, who gathered only 14.62 per cent of the ballots cast.
Assoumani’s victory with more than 50 percent of the vote ensured he avoided a second round against a single opponent.
While Assoumani’s supporters celebrated his victory, the opposition rejected his re-election alleging massive fraud.
“I cannot recognise the results of rigged elections. From the outset I reject the results that will be proclaimed by the electoral commission, and invite the stakeholders to reorganise … free and transparent elections,” Mahamoudou Ahamada, candidate of the leading opposition Juwa party, said.
Observers from three regional bodies – the African Union, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Standby Forces of the East – too, discredited the vote stating that the voting process was full of irregularities that led them to conclude it lacked credibility or transparency.
Comoros has an infamous history of political instability, having witnessed over twenty coups d’etat with various heads of state assassinated.
The Comoros presidency is traditionally rotated among leaders from the three main islands of the Indian Ocean archipelago. Assoumani, a former army officer, first came to power in a coup in 1999 and won elections in 2002 and 2016.
One of the poorest countries in the world, with a high unemployment rate and a constrained fiscal policy, economic growth and poverty reduction are the major priorities for the government.
