Comoros - News Archive

Comoros schedules new elections

Posted: 06/17/2010
Political leaders of the Comoros, with help from the African Union, have agreed to a timetable for new elections. Gubernatorial races for the semi-autonomous islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli, as well as presidential primaries, are now scheduled for November 7. A second round will take place on December 26. The African Union hopes the agreement will ease political tensions in the Union of Comoros. The constitution mandates that the presidency rotate among the three islands, but current President Mohamed Abdallah SAMBI has remained past the expiration of his term. SAMBI’s opponents have accused the president of clinging to power, while SAMBI maintains the country has lacked the financial resources to administer new polls. Also under the agreement, each island will send a representative to the government, with SAMBI remaining President until the next elections. Comoros has experienced at least twenty coup attempts since 1975.

Source: ElectionGuide

Referendum Boosts Presidential Power In Comoros

Posted: 05/20/2009
Voters and the Constitutional Court have approved a referendum extending the President’s term and powers over the island Union of the Comoros. Constitutional amendments allow the President to declare a state religion and replace the federal, rotating Presidency with a permanent, elected office. While 94 percent of voters favored the referendum, turnout was less than 52 percent largely due to an opposition boycott.

Source: ElectionGuide

Comoros: Government Considers Military Option to Resolve Electoral Crisis

Posted: 06/14/2007
A military solution to end the burgeoning electoral crisis on the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan, one of three islands comprising the Union of Comoros, is being considered by the government, IRIN has reliably learned.

Read full story. Source: AllAfrica News: Latest

Admed Sambi becomes President of the Comoros

Posted: 05/17/2006
Final results validated by the Constitutional Court on May 17 declared Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi the winner of the May 14 elections with 58% of the vote. Voters on the Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli islands elected the federal president from three finalists short-listed by Anjouans in April. Ahmed Sambi was followed by Ibderemane Ibrahim Halidi, who had the support of President AZALI Assoumani and won 28% of the vote. Mohammed Janfari came in third with 14%. This is the first time since the adoption in 2001 of a power-sharing Constitution that the presidency has rotated from one island to another. Previously the presidency was held by Grand Comore and is due to rotate to Moheli in 2010.

Source: ElectionGuide

Islamist elected Comoros leader

Posted: 05/16/2006
A man seen as a moderate Islamist won Sunday's election on the Comoros Islands, provisional results show.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | Africa | UK Edition

Q&A: Comoros elections

Posted: 05/12/2006
Comorans go to the polls on 14 May for the second round of a presidential election which observers see as a key test of whether the Indian Ocean archipelago can make the transition to peaceful political change following three decades of instability.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | Africa | UK Edition

Comoros: Radio Stations Attacked Ahead of General Election

Posted: 05/10/2006
The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by attacks on radio stations in the Comoros in the run-up to May 14 federal elections in the Indian Ocean state. Unidentified assailants armed with machetes stormed two radio stations on the island of Grande Comore on May 5, forcing them off the air for 24 hours. The army shut down a radio station on the island of Mohli more than a week ago, and it has not resumed broadcasting, local journalists told CPJ.

Read full story. Source: AllAfrica News: Latest

Comoros: Primary Elections Show New Constitution in Action

Posted: 04/24/2006
An Islamic leader has topped the list of three candidates that will compete in May for the presidency of the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros.

Read full story. Source: AllAfrica News: Latest

Anjouans decide on final candidates to run in 2006 presidential election

Posted: 04/21/2006
Presidential primary elections were held April 16 in Anjouan Island, where voters short-listed three finalists that will compete in federal presidential elections on May 14. Under the 2001 power-sharing constitution, the presidency of the Union of the Comoros rotates every four years between the three islands of Grand Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli. A first round of elections is held on the island currently holding the presidency and the three top candidates move on to a second round in which the whole Union votes.Preliminary results of the April 16 vote show Ahmed Abdallah Sambi in the lead with 26% of the votes, followed by National Assembly Vice-President Mohammed Janfari, and by Ibrahim Halidi, a teacher viewed as a candidate of the underprivileged. The Constitutional Court had until April 20 to certify the results, but no final announcement has been made yet.

Source: ElectionGuide

Comoros: Minister Arrested As Presidential Race Heats Up

Posted: 04/14/2006
The party of outgoing Union of Comoros President Azali Assoumani has been implicated in a scandal over allegedly trying to influence the outcome of presidential primary elections.

Read full story. Source: AllAfrica News: Latest

Comoros: AU Military Electoral Observers for Presidential Election

Posted: 03/20/2006
At the request of the Comoran government, the African Union (AU) will send 500 troops to ensure the archipelago's upcoming elections are free and fair.

Read full story. Source: AllAfrica News: Latest

Comoros announces presidential election date

Posted: 03/02/2006
The government of Comoros has announced presidential primaries for April 16 and presidential elections for May 14. In the primaries, the residents of the Anjouan Island will elect three candidates, who then will run for the Union presidency where the total Comoros population will vote. Under the country’s constitution adopted in 2001, the presidency rotates every four years among the elected presidents from the three main islands in the Union. Experts and analysts fear that that the lack of funding may prevent the elections from being held on time.

Source: ElectionGuide

Comoros Announces Preliminary Results of Presidential Election

Posted: 04/15/2002
According to the transitional government’s preliminary results from the April 14, 2002, presidential election, Colonel Azali Assoumani has obtained 75% of the vote. Per the new constitution, each of the three islands will take turns electing the federal president; Grande Comore will hold the presidency for the next four years. The constitution granted greater autonomy to each of the islands to preempt any future attempts to secede from the Union.

Source: ElectionGuide

Comoros Announces Results of Referendum

Posted: 03/25/2002
59% of the voters on Grand Comore voted against the acceptance of a new constitution for the Comoros. Voters on the other two islands, Anjouan and Moheli, had approved the constitution in earlier referendums. It is unclear whether the rejection of the proposed constitution by Grand Comore voters will lead to a delay in presidential elections scheduled for April 14, 2002. 

Source: ElectionGuide

Comoros Announces Results of Referendum

Posted: 12/31/2001
Voters overwhelmingly approved a new constition in a referendum on December 23.  76.37% of the voters voted "Yes" to the new constitution while 26.63% voted "No".

Source: ElectionGuide

Comoros Announces Referendum Date of December 23

Posted: 11/16/2001
Voters will voice their opinion on a draft constitution via a referendum on December 23, 2001.

Source: ElectionGuide

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