Comoros President Assoumani seeks fourth term in January election
Comoros President Azali Assoumani is seeking another five years as the head of the Indian Ocean nation in elections scheduled for Sunday January 13,2024.
The current chairman of the African Union, Assoumani will face off against five challengers, according to the nation’s electoral commission. Opposition candidates have expressed concerns about the transparency of the vote, and some have called for a boycott.
Assoumani, 64, first took power in a coup in 1999 and won 2002 and 2016 elections. While he was supposed to step down, term limits were scrapped in 2018 following a constitutional referendum and he went on to win the 2019 vote. A system whereby power was rotated between the archipelago’s three main islands was also abolished, stoking tensions and unrest.
About 338,940 people have registered to vote at the 864 polling stations, Mohamed Abderemane Hilali, the electoral commission’s spokesman, said in a text message.
Provisional results will be released on Jan. 16, and the Supreme Court will announced the official outcome on Jan. 31. A second round of voting will be held on Feb. 25 if no candidate secures an outright majority.
Since declaring independence from France in July 1975, Comoros has “weathered approximately 20 realized and attempted coups, resulting in prolonged political instability and stunted economic development,” according to the CIA’s World Factbook.
World Bank data shows that about 45% of the nation’s 836,774 people live just below the poverty line, and a similar proportion face either moderate or severe food insecurity.
