MUTSAMUDU, Comoros, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Comoros is going to hold the run-off of presidential polls on Sunday. This year's election is the first one for the Inidan Ocean archipelago to see presidency rotate from one island to another.

Supporters of Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi rally in the capital of Comoros. The Inidan Ocean archipelago is going to hold the run-off of presidential polls on Sunday.(Xinhua Photo)

    Comorans agreed in 2001, following an elaborate reconciliation, to share power between a national government and the trio of islands -- Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. Each island gets the federal presidency every four years.

    Incumbent President Azali Assoumani comes from Grand Comore, therefore it is now Anjouan's turn. Moheli, the smallest island of the Union of Comoros, is due to take presidency in 2010.

    The primary election was held on April 16, when 117,000 Anjouanese from a population of 250,000 narrowed down 14 candidates to three, namely popular Islamic leader and former parliamentarian Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, National Assembly Vice President Mohamed Djanfari and former prime minister Abderemane Ibrahim Halidi.

    The run-off scheduled for Sunday will be a nationwide election, in which an estimated 300,000 voters of the three islands are expected to cast their ballots.

    Sambi was ahead in the primary election, winning about 24 percent of the votes, followed by Djanfari and Halidi, who gained 13 percent and 10 percent of the votes respectively.

Profile: Comoran presidential hopefuls

    Comorans are going to vote in presidential polls Sunday. It is seen as a test of whether the poverty-stricken Indian Ocean archipelago has broken a cycle of coups and inter-island strife that has hampered development since it declared independence in 1975.

    Comorans agreed in 2001, following an elaborate reconciliation, to share power between a national government and the trio of islands -- Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. Each island gets the federal presidency every four years.

    Incumbent President Azali Assoumani comes from Grand Comore, therefore it is now Anjouan's turn. Moheli, the smallest island of the Union of Comoros, is due to take presidency in 2010.

    The primary election was held on April 16, when 117,000 Anjouanese from a population of 250,000 narrowed down 14 candidates to three, namely popular Islamic leader and former parliamentarian Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, National Assembly Vice President Mohamed Djanfari and former prime minister Abderemane Ibrahim Halidi.

    The run-off scheduled for Sunday will be a nationwide election, in which an estimated 300,000 voters of the three islands are expected to cast their ballots.

    Here are some facts about the three presidential hopefuls:

    Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi took a lead in the primary election, winning about 24 percent of the votes.

    He was born in June 1958 in Mutsamudu, capital and largest city on the island of Anjouan.

    He accepted middle school education in Saudi Arabia from 1973 to 1981 after graduating from a primary school in Anjouan.

    He studied politics and theology in an Iranian university before he returned to Comoros to do business.

    Sambi owns a radio and television station in Anjouan called Ulezi (Education), which he is using to support his candidacy. He also owns factories manufacturing mattress, essence and mineral water.

    He was elected parliamentarian in 1996.

    Mohamed Djanfari ranked the second in the primary election, winning about 13 percent of the votes.

    He was born in 1952 in Sima in Anjouan. He went to France to study in a military school after graduating from a secondary school in Anjouan in 1969.

    Djanfari returned to the homeland in 1996 and launched a maritime transport company.

    He was elected parliamentarian in 2004 and became vice president of the Assembly.

    He holds dual nationalities of both Comoros and France.

    Abderemane Ibrahim Halidi came third in the primary election with about 10 percent of the votes.

    Halidi, a former prime minister under late President Said Mohamed Djohar, was born in 1954.

    He accepted primary school education in Anjouan and studied at a secondary school in Moroni, capital of the Union of Comoros.

    He has taught philosophy in secondary schools of the three islands.

    He was a cabinet minister from 1990 and 1992 before he was appointed as prime minister in January 1993.

    Halidi, who is seen as the candidate of the poor, is being supported by the incumbent president and his party, the Conventionfor the Restoration of Comoros. Enditem

Backgrounder 1: Basic facts about Comoros

    Comorans are going to vote in presidential polls Sunday. It is seen as a test of whether the poverty-stricken Indian Ocean archipelago has broken a cycle of coups and inter-island strife that has hampered development since it declared independence in 1975.

    Here are some facts about the Indian Ocean island nation:

    OFFICIAL NAME: Union of Comoros, formerly the Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros

    LOCATION: In the Indian Ocean between north-western Madagascar and the east African coast, about 300 kilometers from Mozambique and Madagascar

    AREA: 2,236 square kilometers, including Mayotte Island.

    POPULATION: 750,000 (2004 figure)

    MAJOR LANGUAGES: French, Arabian and Shikomoro (a blend of Swahili and Arabic)

    RELIGION: an overwhelming majority of the population are Muslim

    CAPITAL: Moroni, on Grande Comoro Island, with a population of 50,000

    TIME: three hours earlier than GMT

    CURRENCY: Comoros franc (one US dollar equals about 370 Comoros franc)

    RECENT HISTORY:

    1947, The Comoros islands became a "French Overseas Territory" and were represented in France's National Assembly.

    1961, Internal Political Autonomy was granted.

    July 6, 1975, The Comoran Chamber of Deputies passed a resolution declaring independence, Ahmed Abdallah was designated the first president.

    Aug. 3, 1975, Ahmed Abdallah was deposed in a coup led by Ali Soilih.

    November, 1975, the United Nations passed Resolution No. 3385 admitting that the Comoran territory include Grande Comore, Anjouan, Moheli and Mayotte.

    Jan. 2, 1976, Ali Soilih was elected president.

    December 1976, Mayotte, the largest among the four major Comoroan islands, voted to retain its status as a French territory.

    May 13, 1978, Soilih was overthrown in a coup led by French mercenary Colonel Bob Denard and Abdallah was again elected president.

    March 1990, Said Mohamed Djohar was elected president.

    1996, Mohammed Taki Abdulkarim won presidency.

    1999, Azaly Assoumani seized power through a coup.

    2002, Assoumani remained in office by winning the 2002 presidential election.

    2006, three candidates from Anjouan ran for a new term of presidency.

    ECONOMY:

    The people of the Comoros are among the poorest in Africa and are heavily dependent on foreign aid.

    The country ranked 136th among 177 countries in the world in terms of the Indicator of Human Development, according to a 2004 UN report. The GDP per capita was 380 U.S. dollars, according to 2002 statistics.

    There was one doctor for every 7,500 people. Men's life expectancy was 58 while women's was 63. Infant mortality rate was 84.07 per thousand, according to 2001 statistics.

    Illiteracy rate among people age 15 and over was 44 percent, said a 2003 UN report.

    Vanilla and cloves are the major export products of the country. Enditem

Backgrounder 2: Major coups of Comoros

    Comorans are going to vote in presidential polls Sunday. It is seen as a test of whether the poverty-stricken Indian Ocean archipelago has broken a cycle of coups and inter-island strife that has hampered development since it declared independence in 1975.

    The country has experienced some 20 coup attempts since it declared independence, four of them successful, including the bloodless one in 1999, through which the incumbent President Azaly Assoumani seized power. He remained in office by winning the 2002 presidential election.

    Here are several major coups that have occurred to the island nation:

    Aug. 3, 1975, Ahmed Abdallah, the first Comoran president, was deposed less than one month after he took office, in a coup led byAli Soilih and assisted by French mercenary Colonel Bob Denard.

    May 13, 1978, Soilih was toppled and killed by mercenaries led by Denard, who restored Abdallah to power.

    1989, Abdallah was assassinated allegedly by presidential guard under command of Denard.

    1995, President Said Mohamed Djohar was removed in a coup attempt led by Denard.

    1999, The incumbent President Azaly Assoumani staged a bloodless coup and seized power.

Backgrounder 3: Key facts about Comoran presidential election

    Comorans are going to vote in presidential polls Sunday. It is seen as a test of whether the poverty-stricken Indian Ocean archipelago has broken a cycle of coups and inter-island strife that has hampered development since it declared independence in 1975.

    Here are some facts about the polls:

    Comorans agreed in 2001, following an elaborate reconciliation, to share power between a national government and the trio of islands -- Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. Each island gets the federal presidency every four years.

    Incumbent President Azali Assoumani, from Grand Comore, seized power via a bloodless coup in 1999 and remained in office by winning the first election in 2002.

    In that rotation, it is now Anjouan's turn. Moheli, the smallest island of the Union of Comoros, is due to take presidency in 2010.

    The union president has two deputies who must not come from the same island as the president.

    This year's presidential polls are being closely watched by Comoros' neighbors, the African Union (AU), the Arab League and the Francophonie group of French-speaking nations.

    Some 460 African Union soldiers and medics led by South Africa began operations in the capital Moroni on March 30.

    Their mission is to ensure security in the polls and that Comoran troops do not interfere in the voting. The Comoran government has ordered its soldiers to remain in their barracks.

    The presidential polls this year are widely seen as a test of Comoros' power-sharing arrangements and its quest to end its image as a chronically unstable country.

    The first round of voting was held on April 16, when 117,000 Anjouanese from a population of 250,000 narrowed down 14 candidates to three, namely popular Islamic leader and former parliamentarian Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, National Assembly Vice President Mohammed Janfari and former prime minister Abderemane Ibrahim Halidi.

    The second round scheduled for May 14 will be a nationwide election, in which an estimated 300,000 voters of the three islands are expected to cast their ballots. Enditem