Comoros: opposition candidates, losers of the presidential election, hope for international support
After the confirmation of his victory by the Supreme Court on January 24, Azali Assoumani invited his supporters, Thursday, January 25 in Moroni, to a celebration in a local hotel where he addressed the Nation.
Comorian candidates Bourhane Hamidou (left), Salim Issa Abdillah (center) Mouigni Baraka Saïd Soilihi (right) are among the opponents contesting the results of the presidential election, here in Moroni in January 2024. © David Baché / RFI
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With our correspondent in Moroni,
Abdallah Mzembaba
This event was an opportunity for Azali Assoumani, who with this victory secures a third consecutive mandate, to return to his campaign promises, to discuss the violence that occurred during the announcement of the provisional results by the Independent National Electoral Commission, on January 16, and to emphasize the need to take the next step now that the elections are over. He was
declared elected in the first round
, although this victory was still contested and not recognized by his five opponents.
Surrounded by his supporters, Azali Assoumani first presented his condolences to Mouslim's family. This young person was shot and killed during clashes between the population and the army last week. The president calls for an end to the violence: “
We must indeed find ourselves on this new basis to identify together the actions to be implemented so that more than ever our country and our population can relive the nightmare of this violence taken to the extreme.
»
In power for eight years, the president says he knows the emergencies of the Comorian people: access to health care, drinking water, electricity, basic necessities and jobs for young people. A subject, which was already his flagship promise, during his election as head of the Comoros in 2016.
Azali Assoumani also invites his opponents to plan for the next elections: “
I would like to greet with respect my opponents who are candidates for the presidential elections. I would like to tell them that I have not the slightest bit of resentment towards them. I extend a brotherly hand to them as I always have. I am already calling on them to work together now to prepare for the next legislative elections in 2025.
”
The opposition turns to the international community
From a national point of view, no avenue of appeal is any longer possible for the opponents, who nevertheless continue to “
reject outright
” the results and place part of their expectations in the reaction of the international community. Yet with slim chances of being heard.
They wrote to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, over a week ago (January 18). The five opposition candidates, who are still demanding the cancellation of the vote and the organization of new elections - government and presidential - hope that a special envoy will be sent to the Comoros and that the continental organization will help to emerge from the "
crisis
".
But the African Union, of which Azali Assoumani is still president in office until next month, and whose observation mission had judged the electoral process to be generally "
free
" and "
transparent
", has so far simply not , did not respond to the five opposition candidates.
The latter also rely on the international partners of the Comoros, and particularly cite the United Nations, the European Union, the United States or France, which they believe must not recognize results deemed fraudulent and undemocratic.
No official press release has yet been released, but these expectations risk being quickly dashed. “
It’s not possible
,” says an expert on diplomatic relations in the area. According to this source, the Comoros' international partners could recognize dysfunctions and tensions, and call for improvements for the next elections, but without going any further into criticism. Reasons given: the need to continue relations with the Comorian authorities and to avoid any interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.
But the five opposition candidates are not only counting on external support. From Wednesday evening, after the proclamation of the final results, they called on Comorian voters to “
mobilize
”. After two
days of violent riots
last week, a tense calm returned to the entire country. The police made numerous arrests. No official figures have been communicated but, according to the opposition, some 200 young protesters are currently detained as well as several opposition political leaders. “
The resistance is getting organized
,” one of the five opposition candidates promised again this Thursday.
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