2024-01-17 20:41:52
The day following the announcement of the re-election of outgoing President Azali Assoumani, contested by the opposition, clashes broke out on Wednesday between protesters and the police in the capital. The authorities have declared a nighttime curfew.
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4 mn
Tension is rising a notch in the Comoros. A nighttime curfew was introduced on Wednesday January 17 on the archipelago, following clashes between protesters and police in the capital. This violence comes the day following the announcement of the victory of outgoing President Azali Assoumani for a third term, in the first round, punctuated by “fraud”, according to the opposition.
“A curfew has been established,” Defense delegate Youssoufa Mohamed Ali announced on national television in the evening. According to the decree published immediately, the measure which comes into force immediately places Moroni under curfew between 7 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT) and 6 a.m. (3 a.m. GMT), as well as the rest of the territory between 10 p.m. (7 p.m. GMT) and 6 a.m.
Throughout the day, in the streets of Moroni, makeshift roadblocks made of bits of bitumen, stones and household appliances were set up on the road. Many businesses remained closed.
The center of the capital, which has some 100,000 inhabitants, was cordoned off by police, gendarmes and soldiers deployed in large numbers. The road leading to the main airport of the Indian Ocean archipelago, made up of the islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli, was blocked.
The internet connection was partially interrupted, with the main operator citing “disruptions”.
In the alleys of the popular district of Coulée (north), groups of young people threw stones in the direction of the police, who responded systematically with jets of tear gas. Detonations rang out in several neighborhoods.
In some schools, students and staff remained cloistered. According to a witness, a rice depot, a staple food in the archipelago, was vandalized and looted.
“It is organized by those who do not accept defeat,” said Houmed Msaidie, referring to arrests without giving a figure.
The day before, he had warned: “They have been defeated (…) Let them not try to be angry, we will not let this happen.” The UN, for its part, launched an appeal for “calm”, urging, in a press release, the Comorian authorities to respect the right to demonstrate and “democratic principles”.
Cancellation request
The opposition, which had called on “the Comorian people” to “enforce the will and electoral choice of the people”, demanded on Wednesday the “cancellation” of Sunday’s elections. Some 340,000 voters were called to go to the polls to elect their president and the governors of the country’s three islands.
The presidential vote recorded an exceptionally low participation of 16.30%, according to the electoral commission (Céni), contrasting with a first estimate published Sunday evening at more than 60%.
“Unquestionably, these ballots (…) are invalid. We denounce them and demand their outright cancellation,” Azali’s five rival candidates declared in a joint statement.
According to them, official participation figures show that around 2/3 of voters voted to elect their governors but not to choose their president.
Such a gap in participation is “impossible”, believes the opposition, and “a gross fraud is thus established”. Some 189,497 voters voted for their governors, but only 55,258 in the presidential election, according to official figures.
The opposition also claimed, as early as Sunday, to have noted numerous irregularities during the vote and in particular “ballot box stuffing”.
Azali Assoumani, a 65-year-old former putschist soldier, won 62.97% of the votes, according to provisional results. He must therefore run for a third consecutive term which should keep him in power until 2029.
The results of the vote must still be validated by the Supreme Court, the highest court in the country of 870,000 inhabitants, 45% of whom live below the poverty line.
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