Comoros' Supreme Court clears Assoumani for 4th term bid

Comoros' Supreme Court on Thursday approved plans by incumbent President Azali Assoumani to run for another term in the next election due on January 14.

Assoumani will be running for a fourth term, after winning his third election in 2019. 

He will face nine opponents, according to a list of candidates approved by the Supreme Court.

These includea former interior minister and Salim Issa, a medical doctor and flagbearer for Juwa, the party of ex-president Ahmed Abdallah Sambi who was in 2022 sentenced to life imprisonment for "high treason."

The election is facing a possible boycott by opponents who say the electoral process lacks transparency and they will only participate if certain conditions, such as the release of political prisoners, are met. 

The small archipelago nation situated in the Indian Ocean has a population of just 800,000. It has seen more than 20 coups or attempted coups since independence from France in the 1970s. 

Assoumani, a former army officer,first came to power in a coup in 1999.