 He beat out retired French air force officer Mohamed Djaanfari and long-time politician Ibrahim Halidi, whose candidacy was backed by Azali Assoumani, the outgoing president.A referendum took place on May 16, 2009 to decide whether to cut down the government's unwieldy political bureaucracy.52.7% of those eligible voted, and 93.8% of votes were cast in approval of the referendum.