By Abdou Moustoifa
MORONI (Reuters) – Voting was under way in Comoros on Sunday in an election largely expected to hand a fourth five-year term to President Azali Assoumani, who faces five opponents in a vote that other opposition leaders have boycotted.
Voting opened across the Indian Ocean archipelago at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), with 338,940 registered voters out of its 800,000 population. Voting ends at 6 p.m.
Comoros has experienced around 20 coups or attempted coups since winning independence from France in 1975 and is a major source of irregular migration to the nearby French island of Mayotte.
In Dzahadjou-Hambou, a town 20 km (12 miles) outside the capital Moroni, voting started slightly late, with an election official saying it was due late arrival of voting material.
“I came to fulfil my civic right and choose the candidate who will develop our country,” Abdoulahkim Abdou told Reuters after casting his vote, adding he had been at the polling station since 7 a.m.
Some opposition leaders have called for a boycott, accusing the election commission of favouring the ruling party. The commission denies this, saying the vote will be transparent.
Assoumani, a former army officer, first came to power in a coup in 1999. He has since won three elections and has served as the chair of the African Union for the past year.
He won the 2019 election with 60% of the vote, breaching the 50% mark required to avoid a run-off. Critics say since then his government has cracked down on dissent, an accusation it denies.
Former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 for high treason related to accusations of corruption. Political protests have been repeatedly banned for security reasons.
Comoros changed its constitution in June 2018 to remove a requirement that the presidency rotate among its three main islands every five years. This allowed Assoumani to seek re-election.
Assoumani’s opponents include a former interior minister and Salim Issa, a medical doctor and flagbearer for Juwa, Sambi’s party.
The opposition leaders calling for a boycott and their supporters have wanted the armed forces barred from involvement in the elections and the unconditional release of Sambi and other political prisoners.
Provisional results are expected on Friday, according to the election commission.
(Reporting by Abdou Moustoifa in Moroni; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by William Mallard)
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