Voters in Comoros head to polls to elect 33-seat parliament

By Abdou Moustoifa

MORONI (Reuters) - Voters in Comoros were heading to the polls on Sunday to elect the Indian Ocean archipelago's 33-seat parliament, a year after the re-election of President Azali Assoumani in a poll which the opposition alleged was marred by widespread irregularities.

Officials from the ruling party have denied those allegations.

Polling stations opened early on Sunday and voters, numbering some 338,000 according to the polling body, started casting their ballots at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT). Comoros last had parliamentary elections in January 2020.

Nearly 100 candidates were selected by the country's Supreme Court to contest the election.

Assoumani's opponents accuse him of authoritarian excesses and suspect him of wanting to prepare his eldest son, Nour El-Fath, to replace him when his term ends in 2029. Assoumani has been ruling Comoros since 1999 when he came to power through a coup. He has since won three elections.

Last year Assoumani granted his son sweeping new powers, putting him in charge of coordinating all government affairs.

Some opposition parties, such as Juwa, led by former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2022, have called for the boycott of the polls, although others have rejected that plea.

"The Azali regime is weakened ... by participating in these elections we are contributing to further exposing the flaws in its system and accelerating its inevitable fall," Hamidou Karihila, who is contesting the election for the opposition Hope of the Comoros party, told Reuters.

Polls are due to close at 4 p.m. and results are expected by Jan. 17.

(Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by David Holmes)