A decree released on Saturday states that Comoros will hold elections for its 33-seat parliament on January 12; however, opposition parties have said they will boycott the vote.
With a populace of approximately 800,000, the Indian Ocean archipelago recently held legislative elections in January 2020.
The opposition contested the results of the January reelection of President Azali Assoumani, citing incidents of ballot manipulation and voting that finished before the scheduled closing time.
The claims were refuted by the government.
According to Salim Issa Abdillah, the leader of the opposition JUWA party, which ran against Assoumani in the previous election, “we are not ready to take part in legislative elections until we know what is going to happen,” he told Reuters.
“We’re going to abstain from voting. we do not trust Azali Assoumani because no matter what commitments he makes, he will not respect them.”
Assoumani’s opponents accuse him of authoritarian excesses and suspect that he is planning to prepare his eldest son, Nour El-fath, to take over as president when his current term ends in 2029. Since taking power in a coup in 1999, Assoumani has won three elections. Orange, another opposition party, has declared it will not take part in the poll because the president has re-appointed Idrissa Said, the current head of the electoral body. Said denies the accusations.
(Reuters\0
