Transitional constitution adopted

A national conference on Monday adopted a transitional charter to restore constitutional order in the Comoro Islands and oblige the military leadership to relinquish some of its power, news reports said on Tuesday. The three-day conference in Grand Comore, the largest island in the Indian Ocean archipelago, was attended by all major political parties, the military, professional bodies, religious leaders and other civic organisations. No representative from the breakaway island of Anjouan attended the conference. The proposed constitution grants more powers to the parliament to oversee the running of government and public institutions. It also separates the powers of the presidency, the judiciary and the parliament. Colonel Azali Assoumane, the military leader of the Comoro Islands, said that a government delegation would next week travel to Anjouan to meet with the leaders from Anjouan to try and persuade them to return to the Comorian federation.