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Photos: Bitterly contested elections in the Comoros Islands

February 23, 2015 11:49AM ET

Isolated violence marks a Muslim populist's attempt to evade the constitution

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International
Comoros
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Comoros Islands elections
Supporters of the Parti Orange rally outside a polling station in Moroni, Comoros Islands, Feb. 22, 2015, the day of a Parliamentary election viewed as critical to the archipelago nation’s future. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Comoros Islands elections
Security forces drive by the Parti Orange rally. Sunday was the second round of voting after elections last month only filled three seats in the 33-member National Assembly. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Comoros Islands elections
Of the 33 seats in the Assembly, 24 are filled by public vote. The others are filled by nominations from the country’s three island parliaments. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Comoros Islands elections
The election is viewed as a harbinger of what will happen next year when presidential elections will be held. The country’s constitution calls for the presidency to rotate between the nation’s three main islands. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Comoros Islands elections
The plans of former president Abdallah Sambi (who held office from 2006-2011) to seek re-election next year could damage the fragile system set up by the constitution. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Comoros Islands elections
Under Sambi’s presidency, the country, which is 99 percent Sunni Muslim, grew closer with Iran, but his successor nurtured a relationship with former colonial power France. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Comoros Islands elections
Stores owned by people hailing from Sambi’s home island Anjouan were defaced with graffiti by Parti Orange supporters in the apparent belief that they cast their votes for Sambi. Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images

Minor incidents were reported in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros during the second round of a parliamentary election seen as a test for former leader Abdallah Sambi, a Muslim populist preparing a comeback.

 

The results of the election are expected to give an indication of Sambi's support ahead of next year's presidential election. The election was seen as a face-off between Sambi's Juwa party and the party of President Ikililou Dhoinine, whose five-year term ends in May 2016.

Fist fights broke out at two polling stations in the capital Moroni on Grande Comore island, between Juwa supporters and members of another party, an AFP reporter witnessed.

In another district, shops owned by people from Anjouan — another of the three islands making up Comoros, which is Sambi's home island — were defaced with graffiti.

By midday Sunday, there were no official turnout figures available. The results of the voting are not expected for several days.

AFP