Cormoran President Azali Assoumani at his
inauguration in May 2016. Critics say the
former colonel is trying to undermine
democracy
The Comoros islands boasts dramatic
volcanic landscapes, ylang-ylang essential oils
and picture-perfect beaches, but beneath this
idyllic image, a complex political crisis is
worsening.
At its heart is President Azali Assoumani,
facing a mounting chorus from critics who
describe him as bent on enshrining himself in
power and destroying democracy.
The Constitutional Court has been suspended,
demonstrations outlawed and one of Azali's
leading critics, former president Ahmed
Abdallah Sambi, has been placed under
house arrest.
A referendum on a package of so-far
unconfirmed constitutional changes is due on
July 29. Azali has also indicated he will call
elections next year, which could enable him
to remain in office beyond 2021, when his
currently non-renewable term expires.
"It's a constitutional coup d'etat," said
Youssouf Boina, head of the opposition Union
for the Development of the Comoros (UPDC)
party.
"Azali has set in place a war machine to carry
out his personal ambitions," said the head of
the Juwa party, Ahmed el-Barwane.
Among grassroots groups, Salim Soulaimana,
president of the Federation of Civil Society
Organisations (Fecosc), expressed alarm.
"We are bidding farewell to the republic and
becoming a monarchy in all but name," he
said.
- History of turmoil -
The Comoros -- an archipelago of three
islands between Mozambique and Madagascar
and one of the world's poorest countries --
has had a long history of political turmoil,
including intervention by mercenaries, since it
gained independence from France in 1975. A
fourth island in the group, Mayotte, remains
part of France.
Azali, a 59-year-old former colonel, was
president between 1999 and 2002, coming to
power after ousting acting president Tadjidine
Ben Said Massonde in a military coup.
He won the election three years later,
stepping down in 2006 to democratically hand
over power to Sambi. But in May 2016, he
returned again as president after an election
marred by violence and allegations of voting
irregularities.
On May 19, Sambi, president from 2006-11,
was placed under house arrest at his home
near the capital of Moroni, just days after he
had returned to the Comoros from a six-
month absence abroad.
"Acts like these put our democracy under
threat," Sambi retorted. "We no longer have
the right to meet, to express ourselves, to
move."
The aim of the move was "to provoke," Sambi
continued. "It's as if they want to lead us into
crisis."
The move appears to be linked to an incident
a day before when Azali and Sambi both
attended Friday prayers, and as they left
Moroni's main mosque, Sambi's supporters
jeered Azali.
The interior ministry said the move was
imposed to "preserve public order and
security," accusing Sambi of behaviour that
fomented "stone-throwing at the police,
violent demonstrations and disruption to
religious ceremonies."
Several hundred Sambi supporters
demonstrated outside the mosque on Friday to
demand that he be freed from house arrest,
an AFP journalist reported.
In addition to Sambi's house arrest, the
authorities have ordered that anyone seeking
to preach "obtain the consent of the ulemas,"
a body of religious scholars, in Moroni -- an
apparent jab at Sambi, who frequently makes
sermons.
Accusations that the government is cracking
down on freedom of expression raise official
hackles.
"We are only applying the measures that were
approved during the Sambi presidency but
which were never used," Interior Minister
Mohamed Daoudou told AFP. "Now that they
are (being applied), people are saying it's a
dictatorship."
Sambi's party, Juwa, also complains that it
was barred from holding its congress at a
large venue in Morono, and accuses police of
using teargas to break up a rally on his home
island, Anjouan.
In April, Azali suspended the Constitutional
Court -- his spokesman, Mohamed Ismailla,
said the institution had become "useless,
superfluous and incompetent" because the
eight-seat panel only had three judges and
thus could not constitute a quorum.
"All that was needed was to appoint judges"
to achieve a quorum and make it operational,
one of the court's members, Soidri Salim
Madi, said.
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