Comoros opposition rejects reform referendum ‘farce’

People walk through a market avenue at dusk, in Moroni, capital of the volcanic Comoros archipelago, where results of a controversial constitutional referendum were given today by the President of Comoros' National Electoral Commission (CENI), on July 31, 2018. Voters in the Comoros overwhelmingly backed controversial constitutional reforms that would allow current President of Comoros to run for another term, an electoral official said on July 31, 2018, following a referendum boycotted by the opposition. (TONY KARUMBA / AFP)

Moroni. Opposition groups in Comoros on Wednesday dismissed the results of a referendum that allowed President Azali Assoumani to run for another term as a “farce” after they boycotted the controversial vote.

Voters in the impoverished Indian Ocean archipelago on Monday overwhelmingly backed the constitutional reforms, with the election commission putting support for the move at 92.7 per cent with 64 percent turnout. “It’s a farce,” said Ali Mhadji, a member of an opposition grouping of parties. “We reject these results, they are false.”

Under the constitution adopted in 2001, power rotated every five years between Comoros’ three main islands as a means of balancing politics in the coup-prone country.

Following Monday’s vote, that arrangement will be dropped and replaced by a president who will be elected for a five-year tenure, renewable for one term. Assoumani will also gain the power to scrap the country’s three vice-presidencies which was another balancing measure of the previous constitution.

Three other opposition parties on Wednesday also criticised “the false results in this so-called referendum”, congratulating Comorans for their “dignified refusal to go to the polls.” The group tasked with monitoring the vote, the Eastern African Standby Force (EASF), said it had to cancel a press conference scheduled for Wednesday, without providing a reason.

The mission said Tuesday it had observed some irregularities during the vote, including a “sudden flood” of ballot papers at one polling station. An EASF member said party representatives weren’t allowed to sign official documents in any polling station, which “casts doubt over the credibility of the electoral process.” (AFP)