Night Curfew Imposed in Comoros After Protests Over President’s Re-election

The Indian Ocean nation of Comoros has implemented an evening curfew in response to violent demonstrations against President Azali Assoumani’s reelection, according to the interior ministry.

The nation’s electoral board named Assoumani the victor of Sunday’s election against five rivals on Tuesday, giving him a fourth five-year term.

Protesters were still demonstrating in Moroni’s northern streets in the early hours of Thursday morning, despite the army using tear gas to drive them away on Wednesday.

The interior ministry announced the curfew on Wednesday.

A government spokesperson blamed the protests on supporters of losing candidates.

“These are things that happen here and elsewhere, especially when we are beaten and we contest the results,” Comorian government spokesperson Houmed Msaidie told Reuters.

He said several demonstrators had been arrested.

At least four people told journalists on Thursday that they had trouble connecting to the internet to use social media platforms because of service disruptions.

Assoumani’s opponents have said the election was tainted by voter fraud, alleging instances of ballot stuffing and of voting ending before the official closing time. The government has denied those accusations.

Assoumani first came to power through a coup in 1999. He stepped down in 2002 and then won elections 14 years later.

Constitutional reforms in 2018 removed a requirement that the presidency rotate among its three main islands every five years, allowing Assoumani to seek re-election in 2019.

He won 62.97% of the vote in the latest election, according to the national electoral commission.

With a population of about 800,000 people, Comoros has experienced around 20 coups or attempted coups since winning independence from France in 1975 and is a source of irregular migration to the nearby French island of Mayotte.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called for calm and appealed authorities to practise restraint in the wake of protests.