Ongoing political confusion impacts economy

The ongoing row over political power in the Comoros now threatens to weaken the country's already fragile economy, analysts said on Thursday, as traders on Grande Comore took to the streets in protest against double taxation. "The strike was a way of showing authorities that businesses on the island are tired of this confusion. Commercial traders are unsure who they should obey, because on the one hand the island authorities are demanding that they pay their taxes, while the Union administration is also asking to be paid," former politician Abdorahim Said Bacar told IRIN. Since the devolution process last year, in which the islands of Moheli, Anjouan and Grande Comore were granted their own local presidents, tensions have heightened over how the separation of powers between the local presidents and the Union president should work. Bacar said the strike on Tuesday was the result of uncertainty over whether the island's administration or the government of the Union of the Comoros had the right to collect taxes. "It is not only the commercial sector that is affected by this confusion. A number of other sectors in the country are equally frustrated. The problem lies in the fact that the agreement that gave each island control of its own affairs is vague. Also, there seems to be no attempt by the leaders to resolve this problem. This does not help the economy," Bacar said. Last year the International Monetary Fund said that until the current political situation was clarified, in the short term it would be impossible to draw up an economic programme for the archipelago. "Although the strike lasted only one day, it had a significant impact on the lives of people in poor communities. Many people rely on work to keep them afloat. If the shops close down for just one day it means that those people have to go without payment for that day. This means it makes it harder for them to cope," Bacar said. But the Union government downplayed concerns raised by protesters, saying the upcoming legislative elections would clarify the current confusion. Presidential spokesman Houmed M'Saidie told IRIN: "We will have to wait until the elections to sort this issue out. The national assembly that will emerge from these elections will decide on who has the right to collect taxes. The president of Grand Comore wants to gain the upper hand before the elections, but this will not be possible." Relations between Grand Comore President Abdou Soule Elbak and Union President Azali Assoumani have worsened in recent weeks, following allegations linking Elbak to a plot to unseat the Union president. Elbak told IRIN earlier:" ... it was made clear who would be in control of certain administrative functions, but Assoumani has chosen to ignore these agreed-upon principles. He [Assoumani] has become an obstacle to national reconciliation."