By Abdou Moustoifa
MORONI (Reuters) – (This Jan. 25 story has been corrected to clarify that President Assoumani’s remarks have been interpreted in different ways by the government and his opponents. The translation of Assoumani’s comments has also been corrected to show that he referred to ‘a child’ who would succeed him. The original story quoted him as referring to “my son”. The Comorian word he used can mean either ‘child,’ ‘son’ or ‘daughter’)
Comoros President Azali Assoumani, who came to power in 1999 through a coup and has won four elections in the Indian Ocean archipelago nation since 2002, has denied he intends to hand over power to his son.
Assoumani said on Jan. 23 in a speech to supporters on the island of Moheli that he would “take a child to put in my place” when he leaves office, comments which his critics interpreted as confirming their suspicions that he is grooming his son to take over.
The Comorian word for child that Assoumani used in his remarks can mean either “child,” “son,” or “daughter.”
The president’s office denied in a statement on Jan. 24, the day after the speech, that his comments referred to his son, government secretary general Nour El Fath. It said instead that he was referring to all Comorians as his children.
“The government wishes to emphasise that at no time did President Azali speak of a possible succession of his son Nour El Fath, as the head of the state,” it said.
“He instead spoke of ‘a child’ who would succeed him, knowing that it is customary in the Comoros to describe every citizen as ‘a child’, without necessarily speaking of one’s own offspring.”
The statement noted the president had previously rejected the idea of “family succession” and that his successor would have to come from Anjouan, one of Comoros’ three main islands.
According to Comoros’ constitution the presidency must rotate among the three islands every 10 years.
El Fath would therefore not be eligible to replace his father at the end of the presidential term in 2029 unless the constitution is changed.
Assoumani’s latest election victory came in 2022, though the results were rejected by the opposition who said the poll was tainted by irregularities.
Assoumani has put his son in charge of coordinating government affairs and granted him far-reaching powers over the cabinet.
His ruling party decisively won parliamentary elections this month, although opposition parties either boycotted the vote or rejected the results, claiming fraud.
Comoros has a population of about 800,000. It has witnessed around 20 coups or attempted coups since winning independence from France in 1975.
(Reporting by Abdou Moustoifa; Writing by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Jason Neely and Daniel Wallis)
