The Comorian diaspora will not be able to vote for the presidential election on January 14, even though it represents several hundred thousand people. A situation that certain personalities of the Comorian disappearance deplore, and which according to them calls into question the credibility of the election.
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Up to 600,000 Comorians live in France, according to the Comorian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Particularly in Marseille, sometimes nicknamed the “ 5th island “. We remind you that the archipelago has 820,000 inhabitants. The exclusion of members of the diaspora taints the integrity of the vote for Said Larifou, lawyer and former presidential candidate exiled in France since 2019:
“ If a significant portion of the population is excluded from this process, then it is not democratic. This is a denial of democracy. This is a first point. Second point, this process is not at all democratic even for those on the ground in the Comoros to the extent that Azali has all the levers of power in his hands, and the process is under Azali’s exclusive control. There will be no change in Comoros as long as Azali is in charge “, he says.
Last September, Franco-Comorian lawyer Maliza Said Soilihi filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of the Comoros to request the application of voting rights for the diaspora. A request immediately rejected.
“ As soon as the application of fundamental rights is requested, it either declares itself incompetent, or it declares the request inadmissible, regrets the lawyer. The entire legislative system exists, but it is still not applied. All successive powers are afraid of the influence and power that the diaspora could constitute. We just ask for respect and guarantee of our rights. »
“Nothing to do with the political position of the diaspora”
But Houmed Msaidié, minister of agriculture, government spokesperson and campaign director of Azali Assoumani: “ In the current Constitution of the Comoros, there is no provision for the diaspora to vote in presidential elections. On the other hand, article 66 of the Constitution provides that the diaspora can be represented at the level of the National Assembly. This is a somewhat complicated question for the Comoros », he said into the microphone of our correspondent Abdallah Mzembababefore specifying: “ It is not impossible that one day it will happen if things become clearer on both sides. But for the moment, technically and politically, this is not necessary. And this has nothing to do with the political position of the diaspora, which position reflects the debate as it takes place here in the Comoros: part of this diaspora is for the power, another is for the opposition. »
Maliza Said Soilihi and Said Larifou say that many Comorians from the diaspora are currently traveling to the archipelago to take part in the vote or express their discontent.
Comorians will be called to the polls on Sunday January 14 to elect their president as well as the governors of the islands. President Azali Assoumani will seek a new mandate on this occasion.
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