Incumbent Azali Assoumani won a new term as Comoros president in an election the opposition rejected as fraudulent.
The electoral body CENI said in a statement late Tuesday evening that Assoumani won 60.77 percent in Sunday’s vote. The runner up, Ahamada Mahamoudou, one of 12 opposition candidates, received 14.62 percent.
Assoumani’s victory with more than 50 percent of the vote ensured he avoided a second round against a single opponent.
Opposition candidates said Sunday’s vote was marred by irregularities including barring of independent monitors and marking of ballot papers before voting began – all of which the government denied.
Observers from three regional bodies – the African Union, the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa, and the African Standby Forces of the East – said on Monday the voting process was full of irregularities that led them to conclude it lacked credibility or transparency.
The authorities criticised the opposition candidates for stirring unrest.
“This is not the right time for the 12 opposition candidates to push citizens into the streets to provoke trouble and public disorder,” Interior Minister Mohamed Daoudou said on Tuesday.
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.
Last year he triggered months of protests by extending term limits, allowing him to stand for another consecutive term and angering natives of the island of Anjouan who argue that it is their turn to hold the presidency.
