Early presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 24 March 2019 alongside regional elections.Comoros: Presidential elections scheduled for March 2019 Garda World, 31 December 2018 A second round would have been held on 21 April if required,Union of the Comoros IFES but incumbent President Azali Assoumani was re-elected in the first round of voting.
Electoral system Until 2018, the presidency of the Comoros rotated between the country's three main islands; Anjouan, Grande Comore and Mohéli. The 2010 elections were limited to Mohélian candidates and the 2016 elections saw candidates from Grand Comore contest the elections.Comoros: Government Global Edge The next presidential election would have seen a president elected from Anjouan.
However, a constitutional referendum in July 2018 saw voters approve constitutional amendments that scrapped the rotation system and instituted a standard two-round system in which a candidate has to receive a majority of the vote in the first round to be elected, with a second round held if no candidate is able to win in the first round. The changes also moved the next presidential elections forward to 2019 and allowed incumbent President Azali Assoumani run for a second term.Africa’s top trouble spots in 2019 mapped The East African, 6 January 2019
The referendum led to violent protests and an armed uprising in Anjouan in October 2018, which was stopped by the military after several days.Comoros army regains control in Anjouan after uprising: minister News 24, 21 October 2018
Candidates A total of 20 candidates registered to contest the elections, with the Supreme Court determining the final list of eligible participants.Comores: clôture du dépôt de candidature pour la présidentielle RFI, 23 January 2019 Incumbent President Assoumani ran for reelection, whilst other candidates attempting to register included the two losing candidates from the nationwide vote in 2016 (Mohamed Ali Soilihi and Mouigni Baraka) and Salim Saadi, who contested the 2016 primary elections as an independent. Seven of the 20 applicants were rejected, including the main opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Soulé.Former Army Chief in Coup-Prone Comoros Rejects Vote Results Bloomberg, 28 March 2019
Approved candidatesCandidatePartyNotesMahamoud AhamadaIndependentLawyer to former President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed SambiAzali AssoumaniConvention for the Renewal of the ComorosIncumbent PresidentSaid Djaffar ElmacelyIndependentHassani HamadiIndependentGovernor of Grande ComoreFahmi Said IbrahimIndependentHamidou KarihilaIndependentFormer Secretary of State for the Arab Worldm, ex-CRCSaïd LarifouIndependentLeader of the RIDJA partyAli MhadjiIndependentMP for Hambou, ex-CRCIbrahim Ali MzimbaIndependentPresident of the Bar AssociationSalim SaadiIndependentEntrepreneurAchmet SaïdIndependentDean of the Faculty of Science and TechnologyMohamed Ali SoilihiUnion for the Development of the ComorosMohamed SoilihiIndependentFormer Chief of Staff of the Comorian ArmyMouigni BarakaIndependentFormer Governor of Grande ComoreRejected candidatesBourhane AbdallahIndependentEntrepreneurYoussouf BoinaIndependentMoustoifa Saïd CheikhDemocratic FrontSoilihi Mohamed SoilihiIndependentFormer ambassador to the United StatesZile SoilihIndependentIbrahim Mohamed SouléJuwa PartySource: Al-Watwan
Results
Aftermath Following the election, the fourth-placed candidate Mohamed Soilihi called for the results to be invalidated and for a campaign of civil disobedience. He was subsequently arrested.
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