Last day of campaigning in the Comoros before the presidential election on Sunday January 14. The country is holding its breath as President Azali Assoumani, in power since 2016, is seeking a new term against five opposition candidates. However, a fringe of the opposition is calling for a boycott, calling into question the transparency and credibility of the election.
Tension is palpable in the country as voting day approaches. The members of the polling stations of all the communes are summoned this Friday, January 12 to take an oath before the public prosecutor and the qadi, an Islamic judge. But for the opposition, these “maneuvers” only reinforce their doubts about the integrity of the electoral process.
Abdallah Mohamed Chakir, the qadi of the court of Moroni explains the importance of this oath: “Each person who must appear in an office as president or assessor must take an oath, respect the electoral laws. What they will observe in this office, they will report it to the Céni [Independent National Electoral Commission, Editor’s note] and to the Supreme Court. If Saïd won, it is Saïd who won. You cannot close your eyes and say that it is Ahmed who won. No.”
However, these measures are not enough to allay the opposition’s concerns. Salim Issa Abdallah, member of the Juwa party and candidate of the Nalawe coalition, denounces irregularities and obstacles to their electoral campaign. He claims that “no member of the polling stations of the five opposition candidates took the oath” and mentions difficulties in obtaining the necessary accreditations and the absence of information on the final lists of voters and voting locations. .
These criticisms led Salim Issa Abdallah to be refused access to the Céni this Friday morning, thus forcing him to cancel his last campaign meetings to try to resolve these problems and ensure the presence of his representatives in the polling stations during Sunday’s vote.
This situation raises questions about the fairness and democracy of the electoral process in the Comoros. As the country prepares to elect its next president, closely monitoring the elections will be crucial to ensure legitimacy and citizen confidence in the democratic system.