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| Turnout | 53.84% | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Early presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 24 March 2019 alongside regional elections. [1] A second round would have been held on 21 April if required, [2] but incumbent President Azali Assoumani was re-elected in the first round of voting.
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. [3] 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. [1] The changes also moved the next presidential elections forward to 2019 and allowed incumbent President Azali Assoumani run for a second term. [4]
The referendum led to violent protests and an armed uprising in Anjouan in October 2018, which was stopped by the military after several days. [5]
A total of 20 candidates registered to contest the elections, with the Supreme Court determining the final list of eligible participants. [6] 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. [6] Seven of the 20 applicants were rejected, including the main opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Soulé. [7]
| Approved candidates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Party | Notes |
| Mahamoud Ahamada | Independent | Lawyer to former President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi |
| Azali Assoumani | Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros | Incumbent President |
| Said Djaffar Elmacely | Independent | |
| Hassani Hamadi | Independent | Governor of Grande Comore |
| Fahmi Said Ibrahim | Independent | |
| Hamidou Karihila | Independent | Former Secretary of State for the Arab Worldm, ex-CRC |
| Saïd Larifou | Independent | Leader of the RIDJA party |
| Ali Mhadji | Independent | MP for Hambou, ex-CRC |
| Ibrahim Ali Mzimba | Independent | President of the Bar Association |
| Salim Saadi | Independent | Entrepreneur |
| Achmet Saïd | Independent | Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology |
| Mohamed Ali Soilihi | Union for the Development of the Comoros | |
| Mohamed Soilihi | Independent | Former Chief of Staff of the Comorian Army |
| Mouigni Baraka Saïd Soilihi | Independent | Former Governor of Grande Comore |
| Rejected candidates | ||
| Bourhane Abdallah | Independent | Entrepreneur |
| Youssouf Boina | Independent | |
| Moustoifa Saïd Cheikh | Democratic Front | |
| Soilihi Mohamed Soilihi | Independent | Former ambassador to the United States |
| Zile Soilih | Independent | |
| Ibrahim Mohamed Soulé | Juwa Party | |
| Source: Al-Watwan | ||
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azali Assoumani | Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros | 96,635 | 60.77 | |
| Mahamoud Ahamada | Independent | 23,233 | 14.61 | |
| Mouigni Baraka Saïd Soilihi | Independent | 8,851 | 5.57 | |
| Mohamed Ali Soilihi | Union for the Development of the Comoros | 6,110 | 3.84 | |
| Hamidou Karihila | Independent | 3,880 | 2.44 | |
| Fahmi Said Ibrahim | Independent | 3,782 | 2.38 | |
| Hassani Hamadi | Independent | 3,576 | 2.25 | |
| Saïd Larifou | Independent | 3,368 | 2.12 | |
| Achmet Saïd | Independent | 3,326 | 2.09 | |
| Ibrahim Ali Mzimba | Independent | 2,185 | 1.37 | |
| Ali Mhadji | Independent | 1,484 | 0.93 | |
| Said Djaffar Elmacely | Independent | 1,474 | 0.93 | |
| Salim Saadi | Independent | 1,104 | 0.69 | |
| Total | 159,008 | 100.00 | ||
| Valid votes | 159,008 | 95.53 | ||
| Invalid/blank votes | 7,439 | 4.47 | ||
| Total votes | 166,447 | 100.00 | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 309,137 | 53.84 | ||
| Source: CENI | ||||
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. [7]
The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population, and the official state religion, is Sunni Islam. Comoros proclaimed its independence from France on 6 July 1975. A member of the Arab League, it is the only country in the Arab world which is entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. It is a member state of the African Union, the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation, and the Indian Ocean Commission. The country has three official languages: Shikomori, French and Arabic.
The history of the Comoros extends to about 800–1000 AD when the archipelago was first inhabited. The Comoros have been inhabited by various groups throughout this time. France colonised the islands in the 19th century, and they became independent in 1975.
The Union of the Comoros consists of the three islands Njazidja, Mwali (Moheli) and Nzwani (Anjouan) while the island of Mayotte remains under French administration. The Politics of the Union of the Comoros take place in a framework of a unitary presidential republic, whereby the President of the Comoros is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The precolonial legacies of the sultanates linger while the political situation in Comoros has been extremely fluid since the country's independence in 1975, subject to the volatility of coups and political insurrection.
Azali Assoumani is a Comorian politician and military officer who has served as the President of the Comoros from 2002 to 2006 and again since 2016, except for a brief period in 2019. He became head of state after staging a coup d'état in 1999 and was elected president in 2002, 2016, 2019 and 2024. He also served as Chairperson of the African Union February 2023 to February 2024.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Comoros on 18 April 2004, with a second round on 25 April. The result was a victory for the Camp of the Autonomous Islands, which won 12 of the 18 elected seats.
Mohéli, also known as Mwali, is an autonomously-governed island that forms part of the Union of the Comoros. It is the smallest of the three major islands in the country. It is located in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa and it is the smallest of the four major Comoro Islands. Its capital and largest city is Fomboni.
Elections in the Comoros take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. The President and the majority of the seats in the Assembly of the Union are directly elected.
Presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 16 April and 14 May 2006. As it was the turn of the island of Anjouan to hold the union presidency, a primary election was held in Anjouan on 16 April, prior to a national election on 14 May. The result was a victory for Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, who received 58% of the vote in the national election.
Sayyid Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi is a Comorian Islamic leader and politician, and former President of Comoros. He is popularly known as 'Ayatollah'. After easily winning the 14 May 2006 presidential election with 58.02% of the national vote, Sambi was inaugurated as President of the Union of the Comoros on 26 May 2006. It was the first peaceful transfer of power in the history of the Comoros.
Ibrahim Halidi was a long-time politician in Comoros. Halidi was the Prime Minister of Comoros from January to May 1993. Halidi also ran for president in May 2006 with the backing of the outgoing president, Azali Assoumani. In the first round of the election, Halidi finished in third place with 10.37% and qualified for the presidential second round, which was held on 14 May. Halidi lost the presidential election to Ahmed Abdallah Sambi. Ibrahim Halidi was supported by the Islands' Fraternity and Unity Party (CHUMA), Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros (CRC), Movement for the Comoros (MPC) and the Djawabu Party (DJAWABU).
The President of Grande Comore, also known as President of Comoros, is the head of the autonomous government of Grande Comore (Ngazidja), the largest island of the Comoros. The position was established in 2002 following the adoption of the Comorian Constitution of 2001. The president has executive powers as well as three vice presidents. Both the president and the vice presidents hold five-year terms. Each vice presidents represents an island of the Comoros.
Presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 7 November 2010, with a second round on 26 December, alongside gubernatorial elections for the three main islands. The result was a victory for Ikililou Dhoinine, who received 61% of the vote.
Presidential elections were held in the Comoros in 2002. In accordance with the new constitution approved in a referendum the previous year, the island of Grande Comore was to provide the candidates for this election as part of a rotation agreement between the three islands. A first round was held on Grande Comore on 17 March, after which the top three candidates, Azali Assoumani, Mahamoud Mradabi and Saïd Ali Kemal went through to a second, national round of voting on 14 April. However, both Mradabi and Kemal boycotted the second round, leaving Assoumani as the only candidate.
Presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 21 February 2016, with a second round to be held on 10 April 2016, alongside elections for the Governors of the three islands. A re-run of the second round was held in thirteen constituencies on Anjouan on 11 May. Azali Assoumani of the Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros was elected President with 41% of the vote.
The Juwa Party is a political party in the Comoros. The party was established by former president Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi in 2013 and became the main opposition party in 2015. After boycotting the 2020 elections, it currently has no representation in parliament.
The National Rally for Development was a political party in the Comoros.
Parliamentary elections were held in the Comoros on 19 January 2020; in constituencies where no candidate received a majority, a second round was held alongside local elections on 23 February. The elections were boycotted by the main opposition parties, including the two largest parties in the outgoing Assembly, the Union for the Development of the Comoros and Juwa Party, in protest at constitutional reform and political repression, The result was a landslide victory for President Azali Assoumani's Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros, which won 20 of the 24 elected seats.
Said Ali Kemal was a Comorian politician. He was the son of Prince Saïd Ibrahim Ben Ali and the grandson of Sultan Said Ali bin Said Omar of Grande Comore.
The 2018–2019 Comoran protests were a series of mass protests and a deadly uprisings consisting of strikes, riots, demonstrations, and marches in opposition to president Azali Assoumani in Comoros in 2018–2019.
Presidential elections were held in the Comoros on 14 January 2024. Election officials initially announced on 16 January that incumbent president Azali Assoumani had been re-elected with 63% of the vote, with a voter turnout of just 16%. However, the Supreme Court approved a set of results that showed Assoumani receiving 57% of the vote, with voter turnout at 56%.
| Presidential elections | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary elections | |
| Island elections | |
| Municipal elections | |
| French elections | |
| Referendums | |
