Introduction: Comoros has endured more than 20 coups or attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1975. In 1997, the islands of Anjouan and Moheli declared independence from Comoros. In 1999, military chief Col. AZALI seized power in a bloodless coup, and helped negotiate the 2000 Fomboni Accords power-sharing agreement in which the federal presidency rotates among the three islands, and each island maintains its own local government. AZALI won the 2002 presidential election, and each island in the archipelago elected its own president. AZALI stepped down in 2006 and President SAMBI was elected to office. In 2007, Mohamed BACAR effected...

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Government and Political Conditions: Since 2002, Comoros has been ruled by democratically elected leaders. It has a unique system under the 2001 constitution, wherein the office of the presidency rotates every 4 years among the three main islands. Thus, in the most recent elections, in December 2010, only those originating from the island of Moheli were eligible to run for the presidency. In 2014, the presidency will rotate to ...

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