Isolated Incidents as Comoros Votes ahead of 2016 Presidential Race

Voters in the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Comoros returned to the polls Sunday in the second round of a parliamentary election seen as a test for former leader Abdallah Sambi, a Muslim populist preparing a comeback.

Minor incidents were reported during the vote, the results of which will give an indication of Sambi's support ahead of next year's presidential election.

Fist fights broke out at two polling stations in the capital Moroni on Grande Comore island, between supporters of Sambi's Juwa party and members of another party, an Agence France-Presse reporter witnessed.

In another district, shops owned by people from Anjouan -- another of the three islands making up Comoros, which is Sambi's home island -- were defaced with graffiti.

The election was seen as a face-off between Juwa and the party of President Ikililou Dhoinine, whose five-year term ends in May 2016.

By midday Sunday, there were no official turnout figures available. The results of the voting are not expected for several days.

Only three seats in the 33-member National Assembly were filled during the first round of polling last month, which passed off peacefully.

Sambi was president between 2006 and 2011.

Under his leadership the impoverished Comoros -- which is 99 percent Sunni Muslim -- tightened relations with other Muslim countries, including Iran.

The current administration has leaned more openly on former colonial power France.

After about twenty coups or attempted coups in the four decades since independence in 1975, Comoros' constitution was changed to rotate the presidency between the country's three islands.

Since 2009, the archipelago has enjoyed stability but Sambi's plans to seek reelection  -- even though it will not be his island's turn yet to hold the post -- has sparked fears the peace may not last.

"I supported Sambi in 2006, but now he scares me," said history teacher Mahmoud Ibrahim. "I don't care about his religion, but his ambition and his willingness to walk over the constitution make him dangerous."

Only 24 assembly seats are filled by popular vote.

The nine remaining seats will be filled with nominees from each of the country's three island parliaments after the election.