2020 Comorian parliamentary election

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,[2][3][4] 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.

2020 Comorian parliamentary election
Comoros
19 January 2020 (first round)
23 February 2020 (second round)

24 of the 33 seats in the Assembly of the Union
17 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
CRC Youssoufa Mohamed Ali 60.94 20 +18
Orange Party Mohamed Daoudou 4.33 2 +2
Independents 30.83 2 -1
President of the Assembly before President of the Assembly after
Abdou Ousseni
UPDC (expelled)[1]
Moustadroine Abdou

Background

Following decades when the politics of the Comoros was shaped by dictatorship, frequent coups, and civil war, the adoption of the December 2001 Constitution inaugurated the only sustained democratic order in the country since its independence from France in 1975. Azali Assoumani, the leader of the last successful military coup in 1999, remained as president after winning multi-party elections in March 2002. Constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms, Assoumani stepped down from the presidency for a decade in 2006, before being reelected in 2016.

Beginning in late 2017, President Assoumani promoted a vision to make the Comoros into a developing nation by 2030.[5] On 12 April 2018 he "temporarily" suspended the elected Constitutional Court and transferred its duties to a new Constitutional Chamber within the Supreme Court whose members he had appointed.[6][7] Two weeks later, Assoumani announced that a series of consultations held with representatives of the nation during the preceding months had determined that to realize his vision of development a referendum should be held to revise the constitution.[8]

The constitutional referendum held in July 2018 proposed to permanently abolish the Constitutional Court as well as eliminate the ban on consecutive presidential terms, and amend the Fomboni Agreement reached at the end of the civil war whereby the first round of presidential elections was held on only one of the nation's three islands, rotating between them every five years;[9] instead establishing a two-term limit and alternation between the islands only every ten years, with both cycles to begin anew in 2019.[10]

In the months leading up to the referendum, weekly protests against "authoritarian rule" and clashes with the police occurred in the capital, Moroni. The opposition parties declared a boycott of the poll, and their leaders were detained by the army.[11][12] The vice president and other members of the administration publicly condemned the proposed reforms, and were sacked by presidential decree.[13] Nevertheless, official results claimed 92.34% support for the constitutional amendments.[7] In the wake of the referendum on Anjouan, the island due to elect the next president according to the now-overturned Fomboni Agreement, a revolt broke out which the military put down by force, and which the administration blamed on "terrorists, as well as drug addicts and alcoholics".[14]

Claiming that he was now eligible to serve for another ten years, Assoumani called a new presidential election in 2019, two years early. The Supreme Court barred the candidates of all major opposition parties from running.[15] Former president and Juwa Party head Ahmed Abdallah Sambi was placed under house arrest; other opposition leaders who went into hiding were tried in absentia and given life sentences at hard labor.[16][17] The parties prevented from running candidates formed a united organization, the National Council of Transition, and again declared a boycott and protest movement against the "electoral coup d'etat".[18] Assoumani claimed victory in the election in which all other candidates were independents unaffiliated with a political party.[19][20]

Both protests and the government's measures to suppress dissent escalated after the March 2019 vote.[21] Multiple presidential candidates who rejected the official results were injured or arrested by the police, including one who was shot.[22] Journalists were detained, newspaper issues confiscated, and printing presses raided, in response to which private media declared a boycott of government press conferences.[23]

During an extraordinary session of the Assembly held on the evening of 3 September 2019, the administration won a vote on an enabling act giving President Assoumani the authority to rule by decree, to take any measures deemed necessary to conduct new parliamentary elections.[24] This power was used to strip representatives of parliamentary immunity during a new round of arrests and prosecutions of opposition figures.[25][26] To prevent the passage of an amnesty bill intended to prevent imprisonment for political activity, the government closed the Assembly on 31 December, before its mandate was set to expire in March 2020.[27][28]

Electoral system

The 33 members of the Assembly were elected by two methods: 24 members were directly elected in single-member constituencies using the two-round system, whilst nine members (three from each) were elected by the Island assemblies of Anjouan, Grande Comore and Mohéli.[29]

Campaign

A total of 81 candidates were approved to contest the 24 Assembly seats, including 45 independents and 35 candidates from the three parties of L'Alliance de la Mouvance Présidentielle; 21 the CRC, seven from RADHI, led by the manager of Assoumani's 2019 re-election campaign, Houmed Msaidie, and seven from the Orange Party, led by Minister of the Interior, Mohamed Daoudou, who also organized the elections and oversaw the prosecution of opposition figures.[30][31][32] Only one candidate from an opposition party ran, representing the Democratic Rally of the Comoros, the party led by former Grand Comore Governor Mouigni Baraka.[33][34]

The period leading up to election day was noted for the absence of rallies and other forms of mass mobilization typical of previous campaigns.[35][36] One independent candidate was arrested, allegedly for engaging in opposition activity.[37] The campaigns of the parties in L'Alliance de la Mouvance Présidentielle emphasized a message of mobilizing people behind national development. Representatives of RADHI and the Orange Party insisted their parties were independent and contributed to a real competition of ideas, claiming a special responsibility to hold President Assoumani and the CRC accountable and check any future abuses of power.[38]

Results

PartyFirst roundSecond roundTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros113,82660.941618,31854.09420+18
Orange Party8,0734.3216,38218.8512+2
RADHI4,9492.6503100.9200–1
Democratic Rally of the Comoros2,3701.2700–2
Independents57,55530.8228,85326.1402–1
Island Representatives90
Total186,773100.001933,863100.005330
Valid votes186,77395.4033,86390.08
Invalid/blank votes9,0004.603,7299.92
Total votes195,773100.0037,592100.00
Registered voters/turnout313,64962.4259,86062.80
Source: CENI CENI

By constituency

Constituency Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
Dewa Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Chamina Ben Mohamed 732 53.01
Independent Ibrahim Ahmed Kassim 417 30.20
Independent Ali Said Chanfi 163 11.80
Independent Ben Omar Attoumane Tara 69 5.00
Turnout 1,429 25.40
Electorate 5,625 100
Msoutrouni and Moimbassa Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Abdallah Said Sarouma 2,227 68.21
Independent Said Bacar Ben Attoumane 800 24.50
RADHI Ahmed Omar Avilaza 238 7.29
Turnout 3,408 50.03
Electorate 6,812 100
Djando Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Said Assane Madi 1,413 53.30
Independent Dhoihir Daroueche 827 31.20
Independent Saindou Issoufa Djabir 299 11.28
Independent Bachir Maenfou Said 112 4.22
Turnout 2,763 66.59
Electorate 4,149 100
Mledjele Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Anfani Hamada Bacar 2,827 77.62
RADHI Achafion Abdillah Toibibou 815 22.38
Turnout 3,762 65.76
Electorate 5,721 100
Sima Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Moustadroine Abdou 20,009 100
Turnout 20,492 91.18
Electorate 22,473 100
Mutsamudu I Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Hayda Nourdine Sidi 4,510 62.35
Independent Fatima Said Ali Ben Omar 1,558 21.54
Independent Naile Jaffar 1,148 15.87
Independent Mariama Houmadi Daoud 17 0.24
Turnout 7,613 40.86
Electorate 18,632 100
Mutsamudu II Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Abou Achiraf Ali Bacar 4,987 100
Turnout 5,173 65.18
Electorate 7,937 100
Ouani Independent Mouhouyouddine Affraitane 4,423 52.82
Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Soiladine Salim 2,876 34.34
Orange Party Kamardine Soilihi 1,075 12.84
Turnout 8,682 57.62
Electorate 15,068 100
Cuvette Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Ladaenti Houmadi 3,688 64.01
Independent Djanffar Baco 1,330 23.08
RADHI Mounia Ahamadi 744 12.91
Turnout 5,927 74.66
Electorate 7,939 100
Domoni I Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Salim Mohamed Abderemane 955 29.07 1,459 58.31
Independent Nourdine Midiladji Abderemane 976 29.71 1,043 41.69
RADHI Ibrahim Mohamed Hanif 664 20.21
Independent Madjid Mohamed Chakir 439 13.36
Orange Party Hoistoi Thoueni Said 251 7.64
Turnout 3,431 33.24 3,637 35.17
Electorate 10,322 100 10,341 100
Domoni II Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Adnani Mouhamadi 4,884 49.65 9,036 67.79
Independent Dhoimir Samadane 2,270 23.08 4,293 32.31
Independent Moursoid Massondi 1,777 18.07
Independent Abdel Kader Charcane 905 9.20
Turnout 10,133 64.17 14,014 92.43
Electorate 15,790 100 15,162 100
Nioumakele I Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Mohamed Ahmed Said 11,365 88.07
Orange Party Abibou Ben Mahamoud 1,064 8.24
Independent Halidi Abderemane Ibrahim 476 3.69
Turnout 13,328 91.66
Electorate 14,540 100
Nioumakele II Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Mohamed Mourchidi 5,956 60.36
Independent Nadhuf Ahmed Oili 2,095 21.23
Independent Ahamadi Houmadi Soufou 1,817 18.41
Turnout 10,058 90.91
Electorate 11,064 100
Moroni North Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Abdou Said Mdahoma 583 38.33 2,167 87.48
RADHI Mohamed Ahmed 416 27.35 310 12.52
Orange Party Kassim Ibrahim 205 13.48
Independent Mohamed Farouk Attoumani 137 9.01
Independent Mze Abdou Soule Elbak 126 8.28
Independent Ahamadi Houmadi Farida 54 3.55
Turnout 1,597 18.46 2,769 31.51
Electorate 8,650 100 8,787 100
Moroni South Orange Party Djoumoi Idjabou Mroivili 2,388 69.26
Independent Tourqui Said Ahmed Chams-Eddine 543 15.75
Independent Jose Chakhrina Nourdine Abodo 381 11.05
Independent Karimou Abdoulwahabi 136 3.94
Turnout 3,615 42.89
Electorate 8,428 100
Bambao Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Maoulida Mmadi Issihaka 10,355 66.01
Independent Youssouf Ismael Mmadi 2,435 15.52
Independent Moussa Ibrahim 1,732 11.04
Independent Said Abdillah Said Ahmed 1,164 7.42
Turnout 16,736 77.16
Electorate 21,689 100
Oichili-Dimani Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Zoubeiri Mohamed Ahamed 6,224 72.42
Democratic Rally of the Comoros El-Anrif Mohamed 2,370 27.58
Turnout 9,133 59.54
Electorate 15,340 100
Itsandra North Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Abdoul Aziz Mohamed 4,441 60.57
Independent Saadi Salim 1,940 26.46
Independent Ahamada Said 951 12.97
Turnout 7,683 56.65
Electorate 13,563 100
Itsandra South Orange Party Hassani Mohamed 1,404 27.94 3,563 50.32
Independent Soilihi Abdou 1,460 29.05 3,517 49.68
RADHI Abdoul El Wahab Moussa 1,396 27.78
Independent Alloui Said Abasse 951 12.97
Turnout 5,334 45.74 7,935 68.05
Electorate 11,661 100 11,661 100
Mitsamiouli-Mboude Independent Mohamed Ahamada Baco 6,696 51.52
Independent Chamsoudine Soule 2,650 20.39
Independent Abdou Mbalia Zainoudine 2,520 19.39
Independent Mohamed Maamoune Mohamoud 1,130 8.69
Turnout 14,156 49.64
Electorate 28,516 100
Hambou Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Dawiat Mohamed 6,371 80.45
Independent Said Athoumani 1,548 19.55
Turnout 8,479 67.18
Electorate 12,621 100
Hamahamet-Mboinkou Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Ali Mohamed Abdou 5,338 63.88
Independent Mohamed Assoumani 1,822 21.80
Independent Mohamed Said Hassane 1,196 14.31
Turnout 8,926 51.95
Electorate 17,182 100
Ngouengwe Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Ali Said 4,658 45.86 5,656 66.74
Orange Party Ahmed Youssouf 1,686 16.60 2,819 33.26
Independent Antoisse Mohamed Ibrahim 1,386 13.65
Independent Ahmed Said Abdallah 1,258 12.39
RADHI Mariama Mohamed 676 6.66
Independent Soilihi Mohamed 492 4.84
Turnout 10,663 78.61 9,237 66.41
Electorate 13,565 100 13,909 100
Itsahidi Convention for the Renewal of the Comoros Abdou-Rahim Mistoihi 9,427 75.16
Independent Habdallah Ali Mohamed 2,045 16.31
Independent Mnemoi Ahmed Doudou 1,070 8.53
Turnout 13,252 80.99
Electorate 16,362 100

References

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  7. "Power grab destabilises Comoros". New African. 24 October 2018.
  8. "The conclusions of the meetings submitted to the referendum in July". Presidency of the Republic of the Comoros. 30 April 2018. (in French)
  9. "IRIN Briefing on separatist crisis". The New Humanitarian. 7 November 2001.
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  29. Electoral system IPU
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