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The Comoros Will Hold Presidential Elections on Sunday: Who Are the Candidates?

CC BY 2.0 / David Stanley / Mutsamudu, the main city of Anjouan Island, Union of the Comoros
Mutsamudu, the main city of Anjouan Island, Union of the Comoros - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 11.01.2024
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In late November, the incumbent president of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, was allowed by the country's highest court to run in the 2024 presidential election.
The incumbent president of the East African country and head of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, will face five other candidates in the elections scheduled for January 14, according to the country's electoral commission.
His opponents include the former foreign minister Aboudou Soefo, leader of the opposition Juwa party - Salim Issa, former interior minister under Assoumani Mohamed Daoudou.
The other candidates are Mouigni Baraka Said Soilihi - former governor of Ngazidja which is Comoros' largest island, and Bourhane Hamidou, who served as President and Speaker of the Assembly of the Comoros.
Earlier, several opposition figures called on voters to boycott the election, saying it had been "played out in advance." In response, Assoumani asserted that the election would be successful despite calls for a boycott.
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The President of the Comoros is elected for a five-year term in a two-round system. The date for the second round is set for February 25, if deemed necessary.
Prior to the 2018 referendum that changed the electoral system, the presidency rotated among the three main islands of the Comoros: Anjouan, Ngazidja, and Moheli. When it was an island's turn to hold the presidency, a first round was held, with the top three candidates advancing to a second national round.

However, the 2018 referendum initiated by Assoumani abolished the mandatory rotation of the islands and introduced a nationwide vote. 92.74% of voters approved the constitutional amendment, which included provisions for a new electoral process, while 7.26% voted against it.

Assoumani first came to power in a coup in 1999 and has since won three presidential elections, leading the country from 1999 to 2006 and from 2016 to 2024.
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