Political stability yet to be achieved

Ongoing tensions between newly elected President of the Comoro Union, Azali Assoumani, and the president of the autonomous island of Grande Comore may further threaten political stability in the archipelago, analysts warned on Thursday. Elbak and Assoumani have been at loggerheads over control of key government ministries since last year's devolution process which saw the islands - Moheli, Anjouan and Grande Comore - govern most of their own affairs with their own presidents. Assoumani's union government in the capital Moroni controls defence, foreign affairs and economic policy. Elbak has threatened to boycott the April legislative elections, accusing Assoumani of "not adhering to the provisions in the constitution so as to have democratic elections". The upcoming election would be for both the union and local parliaments. The latest setback came this week following the arrest of two ministers in the government of Grande Comore linked to a failed coup attempt to overthrow Assoumani. The accused were believed to be closely linked to Elbak. Twelve soldiers were also arrested for their involvement in the plot. Elbak has since denied any involvement in the attempted coup d'etat. He told local newspaper Al Watwan: "I never sought to carry out a coup d'etat and I can't for a single second imagine my government or my aides envisaging such a thing without informing me." In a surprise twist, federal authorities on Wednesday released ten of the soldiers and Justice Minister Abdou Raouf, saying "they were freed because there were no charges against them". The federal government spokesman Houmed M'Saidie told IRIN: "The authorities could not find any hard evidence that these men intended to overthrow President Assoumani. They did know about preparations for the coup but said they had no direct involvement. They will of course be disciplined accordingly." But former politician Abdorahim Said Bacar said the circumstances surrounding the release of the men was cause for concern. "Many people are perplexed by the whole situation because when these soldiers were arrested the federal government said it was extremely serious charges. Obviously people were put on alert for fear of another coup. But now we hear these men are free and the government has not provided any explanation as to why they were set free. It is quite incomprehensible and doesn't bode well for the election in April," Said Bacar told IRIN. While other analysts have suggested that the power struggle between Assoumani and Elbak was for the economic control of the country, Said Bacar alleged that both men sought control of the country's security forces. "It all looks very gloomy right now, especially since Assoumani is unlikely to give up control of the army. We were hoping that the parliamentary elections would resolve this issue, but it seems that there could be further confrontation between the two government's before that [April]," he said The coup-prone Indian Ocean archipelago has seen a series of coups since independence in 1975 from France. Azali himself came to power following a military coup in April 1999.