Comoros

Djaanfari and Toybou win first round of Anjouan elections

Article published on the 2008-06-16 Latest update 2008-06-17 09:11 TU

A voter at a polling station in Anjouan
(Photo: AFP)

The Comoran island of Anjouan voted in the first round of presidential elections on Sunday, moving Moussa Toybou and Mohamed Djaanfari into the second round runoff, to be held 29 June. The winner will succeed Mohamed Bacar who was removed by a joint military and African Union force in March.

Turnout was a low 40 per cent. Election results posted Monday came as no surprise: Toybou, the candidate backed by the federal government, came in first with 42.5 percent of the vote. Djaanfari came in a very close second with 42.3 percent

The constitutional court should confirm the election results within three days.

Anjouan is one of the three autonomous islands that make up the Comoros. The federal government took control of the island in March after Mohamed Bacar was re-elected in 2007 in elections the federal government had not approved.

The runoff between Toybou and Djaanfari is going to be close, given that Toybou’s 0.2 percent lead in Sunday’s elections was made up of just 88 votes.