Officials say nineteen candidates have registered in Comoros to challenge outgoing President Azali Assoumani at the polls on March 24 where just five of the twenty participants in the race are supported by parties in the Indian Ocean archipelago, where an arrangement to rotate power among the three islands helped quell years of discontent and coups in the late 1990s.
The other 15 candidates are standing independently, according to the list compiled by the electoral body with the opposition in disarray after dozens of arrests.
A security court has handed down a string of jail terms to political figures who opposed a referendum allowing President Assoumani to extend his term in office.
The President who was voted into office in 2016, is tipped to win the election, defeating former vice-president Mohamed Ali Soilih as he did in 2016, and beating one-time armed forces chief of staff Colonel Soilihi Mohamed.
Elections for the governors of the three islands will take place at the same time as the presidential poll.
