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Comoros The Soilih Regime
Originally an agronomist, Ali Soilih had become
politically
active as a supporter of RDPC leader Said Ibrahim in 1970.
Lasting from January 1976 to May 1978, his rule was marked
by
continued hostility between France and Comoros. The main
issues
were the status of Mahoré (particularly after France held
a
second referendum on the island, on February 7, 1976, in
which
99.4 percent of the voters endorsed continued status as a
French
department) and a radical reform program designed to break
the
hold of traditional values and French influence on Comoran
life.
Soilih envisioned accomplishing his revolution in three
phases,
beginning with independence from France. The second phase,
a
"social revolution," would abolish such customs as the
wearing of
veils, the costly grand mariage (great wedding; in
Swahili
ndola nkuu), and traditional funeral ceremonies.
Comoran
citizens, including young women, would be mobilized to
serve in
revolutionary militia and army units in an attempt to
create
something resembling the Red Guards of China's Cultural
Revolution of the late 1960s
(see Society
, this ch.). The
third
phase would decentralize government administration by
establishing thirty-four local moudirias, or
provinces.
These would serve not only as administrative centers but
would
also provide post and telephone service and consumer goods
for
localities of about 9,000 people on the model of the
Chinese
people's communes.
Soilih emphasized the central role of young people in
the
revolution, lowering the voting age to fourteen. He
mobilized
Comoran youth into a special revolutionary militia (the
Moissy),
which particularly in the villages, launched violent
attacks on
conservative elders in Red Guard style
(see Comoros
, ch.
6).
After the withdrawal of French financial subsidies, the
treasury was soon emptied, and in a move having budgetary
as well
as ideological implications, some 3,500 civil servants
were
dismissed in 1977. Soilih made a more than symbolic break
with
the past in 1976 by burning French government archives,
which had
been kept since the acquisition of Mahoré 135 years
before.
Tanzanian officers trained the Comoran Armed Forces, and
the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), Saudi
Arabia, and other countries provided limited aid.
Soilih, who described himself as a devout Muslim,
advocated a
secular state and limitations on the privileges of the
muftis, or
Muslim jurists who interpret Islamic law. These reforms,
which
were perceived as attacks on Comoran traditions, combined
with a
deepening economic crisis to erode support for his
government.
Several attempts were made on Soilih's life, and in a
referendum
held in October 1977, only 55 percent of the voters
supported a
new constitution proposed by his government. Attacks by
the
Moissy on real and imagined political opponents escalated;
raids
on mosques were common; a number of refugees fled to
Mahoré. The
eruption of Kartala in April 1977 and the influx of
refugees from
Madagascar following a massacre of resident Comorans there
exacerbated the situation. In March 1978, some fishers in
the
town of Iconi, south of Moroni, were killed after
protesting the
government's policy on compulsory sale of their catch to
the
state. Severe food shortages in 1976-77 required the
government
to seek aid internationally and forced the young nation to
divert
its already limited export earnings from economic
development to
purchases of rice and other staples.
Popular support had dwindled to such a level that when
a
mercenary force of fifty, consisting largely of former
French
paratroopers, landed at Itsandra Beach north of the
capital on
May 12, 1978 the regular armed forces offered no
resistance. The
mercenaries were led by French-born Bob Denard (an alias
for
Gilbert Bourgeaud, also known as Said Mustapha M'Hadjou) a
veteran of wars of revolution, counterrevolution, and
separatism
from Indochina to Biafra. (Ironically, Denard had played a
role
in the 1975 coup that had enabled Soilih to come to
power.) Most
Comorans supported the coup and were happy to be free of
Soilih's
ineffective and repressive regime. The deposed head of
state was
killed under mysterious circumstances on May 29, 1978. The
official explanation was that he had attempted to escape.
Data as of August 1994
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