The African Union (AU) gave its stamp of approval late on Monday to last weekend’s first round of legislative elections in the Indian Ocean’s Comoro islands, but urged polling authorities to shape up their logistics.
”The African Union observer mission believes that the first round of island legislative elections held on March 14 took place under all the usual conditions of regularity despite the existence of imperfections in preparing electoral lists,” read an AU statement.
Sunday’s vote was for the brand new assemblies on the three autonomous Comoro islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli.
The AU statement noted that logistical problems led to delays in the opening of polls in several areas, especially the capital, Moroni. It urged the national electoral commission to correct these problems before next Sunday’s second round of voting.
”Still, this did not in any way affect the calm and serenity shown by voters or the determination to express their choice,” the statement added.
AU obsevers, who came from South Africa, Benin, Madagascar, Kenya and Tunisia, said that the only voting material missing from polling stations was sealing wax and some official envelopes.
Party agents were generally present in polling stations and there was no sign of intimidation, the statement said.
”No major incident that could have led to the suspension or total halt of voting operations was seen,” it said.
The secrecy of the ballot was respected and counting took place transparently at polling stations, it added.
Neither this AU team nor a separate group of mostly South African military observers offered any evidence to back up various opposition claims of incidents of ballot-box stuffing and attempts to stop people voting. – Sapa-AFP