Comoro opponents say the ruling party has been favored in the election
Five opposition candidates in Sunday's Comoros presidential election have said the voting exercise has suffered from "fraud" and "stuffing the ballot boxes" while President Azali Assoumani is confident that he will win directly in the first round and thus continue to rule the islands. ..
Mouigni Baraka Said Soilihi, accompanied by other presidential candidates, said in a statement that: "As in 2019, we are witnessing fraud in the fraud carried out by Azali Assoumani and the cooperation of the army." The opposition leaders claim that the election commission is in favor of the ruling party, an issue that the commission has denied and said that the voting exercise has been transparent. Comoros elections have been held on Sunday where President Assoumani is expected to win the fourth term of 5 years. President Assoumani The voting exercise started on the islands of the Indian Ocean at 2 o'clock in the morning, involving 338,940 registered voters out of a total of 800,000 inhabitants in the country. Voting ended at 12 o'clock in the evening in the nation that has witnessed about 20 coup attempts, since gaining its independence from France in 1975. President Assoumani has said he hopes to win in the first round of the election. " There is a belief that I will win in this first round. It is God who will decide with the people of Comoros," said president Assoumani after voting in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the capital Moroni. President Assoumani -- who has been oppressing his opponents with an iron hand, including jailing them and forcing others to go into exile -- has denied allegations of irregularities in the election. Among the flaws mentioned are errors at the polling stations which he said he had "not heard of" and regarding the small number of voters who showed up, president Assoumani said this was due to the bad weather especially the rain that was falling yesterday Sunday. The counting exercise started soon after the polls closed. The results of yesterday's election are expected to be announced in the next few days. President Assoumani, who has ruled the Comoro Islands since 2016, extended his term in power through complex constitutional changes. Changes to the constitution after the 2019 presidential election removed the requirement for the presidency to be rotating among the three large islands that make up the Republic of Comoros.
