Islamist claims victory in Comoros poll, rivals cry fraud
Supporters of Islamist candidate Ahmed Abdallah Sambi claimed victory in the coup-plagued Comoros' weekend presidential elections but rivals cried foul, alleging the polls had been marred by fraud.
After Sunday's largely peaceful voting on the volatile Indian Ocean archipelago, Sambi's backers said their candidate, the front-runner in the race to succeed outgoing President Azali Assoumani, had won a clear majority.
No official results were yet available but Sambi's camp claimed he took up to 75 percent of the vote, citing its canvas of early provisional returns from many of the 624 polling stations.
"It is a clear victory, he is the new president of Comoros," said Sambi aide Mohamed Djaffar. "He has won between 60 and 75 percent of the votes."
Sambi's camp based their victory claim on results that were compiled by his representatives posted in each of the 624 voting stations across the islands.
At the same time, supporters of Sambi's rivals said they were concerned about fraud, particularly on the islands of Moheli and Grand Comore where they said there had been suspicious irregularities.
"It is way too early to claim victory," said Youssouf Said, campaign director for Sambi's rival, long-time politician Ibrahim Halidi, who was backed by Azali. "We will question the sincerity of the vote.
"Some ballot boxes were stuffed with votes in Moheli and we discovered some voting stations in Moheli and Grande Comore where the number of eligible voters was exactly the same as the number of votes cast," he told AFP.
The national election board said it hoped to begin releasing provisional results later Monday, according to panel chairman Abderemane Hilali.
The CNEC is to hand over the provisional results to the minister in charge of elections, Ali Abdallah, who will formally announce them, but the returns will not be final until the Constitutional Court certifies them.
Under Comoran law, the court has until 72 hours after receiving the provisional returns to declare the results official.
Sambi's supporters had already began celebrating his "victory" in the streets of the capital late on Sunday, according to an AFP correspondent in Moroni.
About 310,000 voters had been eligible to choose between Sambi, an Islamic cleric popularly known as "the Ayatollah" and two secular hopefuls: Halidi and deputy parliament speaker Mohamed Djaanfari.
Sambi, 48, a cleric and sucessful businessman educated in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, was the favorite due to his strong showing in an April primary on the island of Anjouan that winnowed the field from 13 to three candidates.
Though a moderate, the possible victory of Sambi, who has spoken in support of an Islamic government, had raised the specter of religious extremism on the impoverished, overwhelming Muslim archipelago.
Sunday's polls were seen as a test of stability in the troubled archipelago that has suffered some 20 coup attempts since independence from France in 1975.
Four of those were successful, including the one that brought Azali to power in 1999.
It is hoped the vote will help the nation, which sits between Mozambique and Madagascar, rebuild its economy and improve the lives of its 600,000 people, half of whom live in abject poverty, suffer widespread malnutrition and illiteracy.
Azali, from Grand Comore, was barred from standing from re-election under the country's 2001 power-sharing constitution, which accords semi-autonomy to the three islands in the chain and provides for the presidency to rotate between them.
All three candidates in Sunday's elections were from Anjouan, the second largest of the islands. Moheli will provide the candidates for the next presidential election in 2010.
The fourth island in the archeipelago, Mayotte, is still a French territory, having opted against independence in 1974 referendums.
AFP
