Country Report Comoros March 2011

Outlook for 2011-12: Election watch

The second round of voting for Union president and the islands' governors took place on December 26th 2010. Mr Dhoinine-the former vice-president and the candidate endorsed by Mr Sambi-won the nationwide polls in December 2010 with 61% of the vote. Mohamed Said Fazul, a former president of Mohéli and an opponent of Mr Sambi, trailed in second place with 33% of the vote. The opposition has said that the elections were marred by ballot stuffing, the theft of voting papers and the harassment of opposition observers, and has called on the international community to reject the results. International election observers have acknowledged that there were a number of problems, particularly on Anjouan, but have pronounced the polls "generally free and fair". Voter turnout in the second round was 52.8%, compared with 67% in the primaries. In the island elections, Mouigni Baraka Said Soilihi was elected governor of Grand Comore and Anissi Chamisidine was elected governor of Anjouan; both are supporters of Mr Sambi. In Mohéli the incumbent, Mohamed Ali Said, who is an opponent of Mr Sambi, won re-election. Assuming that the transfer of power from Mr Sambi to Mr Dhoinine proceeds smoothly, it will mark the first time that the presidency has been held by a Mohélian, and only the second time in the country's turbulent history that power has been transferred through the ballot box.

© 2011 The Economist lntelligence Unit Ltd. All rights reserved
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