By Arnaud JouvePosted on 21-03-2019Modified on 21-03-2019 at 22:08
To understand the political stakes that swirl the Comoros in the perspective of the first round of the presidential election on March 24, return on the turbulent political history of the archipelago. 44 years after the declaration of independence, the country that has experienced multiple coups, which has been successively the "Comorian State", the "Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros" and then the "Union of the Comoros", is a the archipelago still divided, today called to open a new page of its history.
Located between Africa and Madagascar, north of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, the archipelago comprises four islands: Grande Comore, Anjouan, Mohéli and Mayotte which, unlike the first three, is administered by France . This composition is the result of an agreement in 1973 to organize a consultation for the independence of the country and therefore of the archipelago, during the process of decolonization.
This consultation is organized on December 22, 1974. The "yes" wins by the majority on the archipelago scale, so that the president of the council of the government of the éqoque, Ahmed Abdallah, proclaims unilaterally the independence of Comoros on 6 July 1975. He became head of state. About ten days after this proclamation, President Abdallah asks the French military forces to leave, which they do.
During the count, a majority of "no" having been counted on the island of Mayotte, it will remain under French administration, which is still today source of litigation between France and the Comoros.
The Comorian State (1975-1978): the first putsch of the mercenaries
Some Comorian leaders, including Ali Soilih, are so angry with President Abdallah for his independence, which complicates relations with France and does not respect the terms of the consultation which provided for independence accompanied by it.
In early August 1975, fifty mercenaries led by Bob Denard (mercenary known for his interventions in Africa) landed in the Comoros and make a coup that brings Ali Soilih to power. Abdallah fled to France and Soilih established a socialist and independence regime.
On December 31, 1975, the French government passed a law recognizing that Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli were no longer part of the French Republic. Relations between Paris and the Comoros are tense and Mayotte reaffirms, by a vote in February 1976, its attachment to France.
The Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros (1978-2001): serial killings and coups
First rebound May 13, 1978: the mercenary Bob Denard overthrows the president Ali Soilih who is found dead in his office. On October 23, Ahmed Abdallah returned in triumph and was elected (although only candidate) president of the Islamic Federal Republic of Comoros. Bob Denard remains at his side and creates a presidential guard of more than 600 men who controls the country. The regime becomes totalitarian. In 1982, President Ahmed Abdallah dissolved all political parties and created a single party: the Comorian Union for Progress. Despite this, Moustafa Cheikh's opposition party, the Democratic Front, is trying to exist, but the government is dismantling it and locking up and torturing all its militants.
Second rebound: in 1989, President Abdallah is wary of Bob Denard, he feared a new coup attempt and had it disarmed. Abdallah is then found dead in his office, officially killed by a soldier in his custody and Denard, who is suspected of this murder, is found wounded. The unpopular mercenary leaves the archipelago for South Africa. At the request of Acting President Saïd Djohar, French paratroopers are sent to Moroni to ensure the maintenance of order (Operation Oside).
Said Mohamed Djohar, Soilih's half-brother, was elected on March 11, 1990 in disputed elections against Mohamed Taki Abdulkarim.
Third rebound: in the night of 27 to 28 September 1995, Bob Denard arrives again with thirty men in the Comoros and overthrows Said Mohamed Djohar who is exfiltrated in France by the secret services. On October 3, France deploys 600 men (Operation Azalea) against those of Denard who surrender. The mercenary is then arrested and placed under house arrest in France.
After an interim period, Mohamed Taki Abdoulkarim was elected in March 1996.
The separatist crisis of 1997
During the presidency of Mohamed Taki Abdulkarim, the island of Moheli and the island of Anjouan, both of which consider themselves disadvantaged in front of the Grande Comore where the government sits, each proclaimed their independence in August 1997. The following year , the president dies. Saïd Saïd Hamadi then Tadjidine Ben Saïd Massounde are acting, but despite a military intervention that fails, the separatists refuse to submit to the Grande Comore.
In April 1999, Colonel Azali Assoumani made a coup and took power without violence. Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, restores contact with independenceist Mohamed Bacar. Negotiations resume. The colonel tries to enforce an agreement obtained in Antananarivo but the Anjouanais refuse any agreement and through a consultation in January 2000, reaffirm their desire for independence. The African Union is organizing an embargo on Anjouan. Part of the population undergoing the blockade is moving to Mayotte.
Despite pressure from the African Union, Colonel Azali accepts the terms of the Fomboni Declaration of 24 August 2000, a framework agreement of national reconciliation, with the head of Anjouan, Lieutenant-Colonel Said Abeid Abdéramane. After multiple negotiations on the reorganization of power, the Declaration becomes the Fomboni Agreement, signed on February 17, 2001, which puts an end to sanctions on Anjouan and turns a new page in the history of the Comoros.
The Union of Comoros (since 2001)
The Comoros then adopted a new Constitution on 23 December 2001 which gave birth to the Union of the Comoros, a federal state composed of three islands, each of which has a very large autonomy with a rotating presidency every four years between the islands. In 2002, Colonel Azali was elected President of the Union, Mzé Abdou Soulé Elbak, President of Grande Comore, Mohamed Bacar President of Anjouan and Mohamed Saïd Fazul President of Mohéli.
Legislative elections at island and Union level take place in 2004. President Azali faces difficulties with islands that refuse to promulgate certain laws and call for greater decentralization of the Comorian state. In 2006, the elections were won by Ahmed Abdallah Sambi (58% of the vote), a Sunni monk nicknamed "Ayatollah" who will face the same problems with the islands.
In 2007, while each island must elect its president, the candidacy of the president of Anjouan Mohamed Bakar is invalidated for questions of delay exceeded by the president of the Union of the Comoros. Mohamed Bakar enters secession. Clashes take place between the gendarmes of Anjouan and the army of the Union. The elections are still held in June in the islands, without the international observers can control the results in Anjouan where Mohamed Bakar declares himself re-elected. The Union government disputes this result and Anjouan finds himself in a new crisis situation that leads to armed clashes in March 2008.
On March 17, infiltration operations in Anjouan were conducted by the national army. On 25 March, the "Democracy in the Comoros" operation composed of a thousand Sudanese and Tanzanian soldiers with French logistical support, launched an assault on the island of Anjouan, in support of the Union of Comoros troops for put an end to Mohamed Bakar's self-proclaimed sovereignty. After brief fighting, the national army and the African Union forces take control of the island. Mohamed Bakar takes refuge illegally in Mayotte where he is arrested and transferred to the French island of Reunion.
In May 2009, a constitutional referendum was organized by President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi to amend the 2001 Constitution. Approved by 93% of the population, the new Constitution strengthens the powers of the President of the Union, the presidents of the islands become governors Islam becomes a state religion and the president's mandate is extended by one year.
On May 26, 2011, Ikililou Dhoinine becomes the new elected president and finds himself at the head of a country that is experiencing very difficult economic conditions, with half of the population living below the poverty line. In the presidential election of 2016, former putschist Azali Assoumani returned to power for the third time and won the election with 41.43% of the vote. President Azali is organizing a new referendum on 30 July 2018 to change the Constitution again. This reform allows the president to serve two consecutive five-year terms (compared to only one previously) and to maintain the rotating presidency between the three islands, but provides for alternation every ten years, instead of every five years. . At the end of this disputed constitutional change, the president undertakes to organize a first round of presidential elections early on March 24, 2019.
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