MORONI: The Indian Ocean nation of Comoros headed to the polls Sunday to elect lawmakers, with many opposition groups planning to snub a vote they say lacks transparency.
Comorian President Azali Assoumani’s eldest son, Nour El-Fath Azali, who is 39 and the country’s secretary general, is running to represent a constituency just outside the capital Moroni.
Several voting booths opened late after material failed to materialize in time, a reporter saw.
One US observer, James Burns, said officials had to “improvise” one booth comprising two panels around a table.
Nearby, another booth consisted of a simple box placed on a chair — making it nigh on impossible to preserve voter privacy as ballots were cast.
Before he was appointed to the post in July 2024, Nour had been a private adviser to his father, 65, a former military ruler who came to power in a 1999 coup.
Critics said Nour’s new powers — which entail approving all decrees issued by ministers and governors — elevate his role to that of de facto prime minister.
Azali was reelected president in January 2024 after a disputed vote followed by two days of deadly protests.
“Thank God, since the beginning of the campaign there has not been any trouble. It’s raining but it’s a blessing,” Azali said after voting in his hometown of Mitsoudje, 15 kilometers south of the capital Moroni.
“I thank the opposition candidates who stood in the elections. We need a constructive opposition,” he added.
Several opposition candidates were standing election to avoid an outcome similar to the boycott of the 2020 legislative vote, which gave free rein to his ruling Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros party, or the CRC.
One man clad in a boubou and kofia, typical Comorian headgear, complained that “I dipped my finger in the inkwell but the ink’s already gone,” showing his index finger with no indelible ink stain.
The CRC is expected to dominate parliament again in this year’s vote, not least as its candidates in some constituencies face no competition.
Thirty-three members of parliament will be elected directly by around 340,000 registered voters in a two-round ballot.
A second round of voting will take place on Feb. 16.
Azali in January 2024 officially won 57 percent of the vote, allowing him to remain in power until 2029.
But the strongman’s opponents said the election was marred by fraud, and court challenges were dismissed.
One person was killed and several others injured in the violence that erupted in the aftermath of the election in the country of some 870,000 people.
