Address to the Nation: AZALI Assoumani, Prez of Comoros (06/07/2018)

AZALI Assoumani

Address to the nation – July 6, 2018

Comorian women,

Comorians,

Honorable audience,

On this solemn day, July 6, 2018, marking the 43rd ^anniversary of our accession to national sovereignty, I would like to wish you all my best wishes for success, in the fight that we wage every day, to consolidate Democracy, strengthen Peace and Stability and ensure the socio-economic development and prosperity of our country.

I would also like to thank you for being present, our bi- and multi-lateral partners, our friends and neighbors from Madagascar but also from Reunion.

This national holiday, symbol of our regained honor and freedom, we come together to remember the glorious fight led by the founding fathers of our independence, to examine the path traveled, and the journey that still remains to be accomplished, to build a dynamic and prosperous economy capable of meeting the growing needs of our people.

On Independence Square this morning, we witnessed the parade of our armed, security and police forces, but also, our youth, the hope for our future.

To the officers, non-commissioned officers, non-commissioned soldiers of the National Development Army, and to the officers and agents of the Security and the National Police, I renew, once again, all my confidence and my pride and that of the entire Nation.

I thank them all for their professionalism, dedication and dignity with which they carry out their duties to preserve the peace and stability of our country.

This afternoon, as per tradition, I welcome you to Beit-Salam, symbol of our State and its Unity, to wish you my dear compatriots, from the interior and the diaspora, my warm congratulations.

On this historic day, I would first like to salute the memory of all my predecessors present or deceased, to express to them our gratitude and our admiration, for the work accomplished, within the framework of the exercise of their missions to the head of our country.

Beyond the celebration of this historic day, we will have to examine together, on the basis of our respective obligations and responsibilities, the ways and means to build peace, stability, sustainable development and the emergence of our country.

Today, I do not want to present to you the assessment of my action over the last twelve months. Mr. Secretary General of the Government, has already done this to you, during the reception ceremony for the restoration work on the Itsinkoudi-Mtsangadjou road, Dimani, a week ago and I would like to congratulate him for the relevance of his presentation .

It is my duty, as I solemnly committed last February 12 at Moroni Stadium and April 29, 2018 at Mutsamudu in Anjouan, to speak to you, today and three weeks away from a decisive choice that the Comorian people must do, by implementing the recommendations of the National Conference, initiated in 2015 by the wise and statesman Mr ALI BAZI SELIM, that he regains health, and by the August 11 Movement.

Indeed, for a year, our country has entered a non-crucial phase of its history, marked as you have all experienced, by the preparation and organization of the National Conference, in accordance with the commitments I made, a year to the day, in this square, to respond to the request presented to me by the wise elders of our country.

This major national event successfully mobilized thousands of Comorians and representatives of friendly countries and the international community, and constitutes a real lesson in democracy that our people presented to the whole world.

Organized not at the end of serious crises, like the one we unfortunately experienced with the separatist crisis in our country, or following fratricidal war, as is unfortunately the case in other countries, these meetings constitute a real national will, launched by our wise elders, to assess the progress made in 43 years of independence, learn lessons from our failures, amplify the achievements and formulate solutions, to restore our country.

This inclusive dialogue, which is the pride and honor of our people, was carried out without any pressure and without any external assistance.

As I pointed out at the opening and closing of the workshops from January 12 to 19, but also during the National Conference from February 5 to 12, 2018, despite the refusal of certain political parties to take part in this major meeting. -you, it fell to me, as in 2001, to hold my Government and myself responsible for implementing the recommendations.

This is the meaning of the message that I transmitted to you on April 29, 2018, in Mutsamudu, after consulting national, island and local elected officials, civil society organizations, members of the diplomatic corps, ulema, economic operators, prefects, mayors, political parties and the August 11 Movement, before taking any action in this area.

In the diagnostic work carried out by these Conferences, I would like to express my gratitude for the quality and objectivity of the analyses, the frankness of the observations, and the relevance of the recommendations made. 

My thanks also go to our friends and bi- and multilateral partners, who were kind enough to show their solidarity with our people through their presence.

Honorable audience,

Faced with the diagnosis drawn up by the thousands of Comorians which was facilitated by the preparatory work carried out by our national experts and by the thousands of responses received from citizen surveys, we see that there is indeed a link between low growth and poverty, and inadequate institutional framework in our country.

Faced with this worrying result, which challenges all the political forces of our country, I decided, on the basis of the recommendations of these Conferences, to launch today, a new major development project, based on the implementation of a multi-year recovery program, accompanied by a constitutional revision, in order to support development and achieve the emergence of our country.

As highlighted in the recommendations, the revision of our institutions remains the obligatory path to accelerate the reforms, essential to the development of our country.

I ask you to massively vote YES , on July 30, to create the endogenous and exogenous conditions, essential for the implementation of the policies and programs discussed by the National Conference. 

This vast development project covers many areas and will last at least five years, to give our country the means to build a modern and developed economy:

• The merciless fight against corruption and embezzlement of public funds , through the establishment of the General State Inspectorate (IGE) and the transmission of embezzlement files to the courts.

• The rapid creation of a consortium for the supply of basic necessities , with the participation of private companies, to reduce excessive supply costs, reduce consumer prices, create jobs, and increase state revenue.

• For cash crops , support rapid growth in production, add value and transform on site, and generate job-creating activities.

• The operationalization of Rural Economic Development Centers (CRDE), to develop irrigation and applied research, strengthen extension, intensify production and improve marketing.

• At the level of the unification of the Civil Service , efforts will focus, while maintaining the autonomy of management of the islands, on the control of the State payroll, the revaluation of retirements, the release of the career development of civil servants (frozen for 27 years), and the recruitment of new agents by competitive examination.

• The creation and operation of a School of Administration , to ensure the development and permanent retraining of State personnel, and to train new agents.

• In terms of decentralization , to bring citizens closer to their administration and strengthen national unity, it is planned to decentralize certain ministerial departments and state companies in the islands.

• The management and management reform of state-owned companies will strengthen transparent management, the functioning of the Board of Directors and the appointment of directors of these companies, with the development of contract plans and road maps, to set the contractual objectives to be achieved.

• The creation of a State Portfolio Department, responsible for supervising, controlling and preserving shares held by public authorities in companies, and the carrying out of certified annual audits in each State company.

• At the level of economic infrastructure and tourism, ongoing efforts will intensify, at the level of energy and transport, to facilitate trade, reduce the cost of maritime, air and road transport, and efficiently exploit the enormous potential of the country in terms of tourism.

• This is why the construction of the port of Mohéli, the development and efficient operation of the Port of Mutsamudu, the creation of a deep water port in Ngazidja, the development of our main and secondary airports, and the establishment new hotels, are priorities for the development of the country.

• For the private sector , actions will be carried out to improve the climate and business environment to attract foreign investment in the tourism and industry sectors, support job creation and reduce poverty in the most affected areas. . 

• For the health sector , in addition to the actions currently undertaken at the El Maarouf hospital, in the capital, and at Bambao, in Anjouan, measures will be undertaken to build new efficient hospitals, improve the technical platform, raise the quality of care, reduce medical evacuations, and lower the prices of services in public hospitals.

• At the level of education and training , emphasis will be placed on coordination and regulation of the sector, increasing reception capacity and university offerings in cooperation with other universities in friendly countries. , and the improvement of low yields.

• For youth and culture , support for activities intended to encourage youth and promote our traditions and our cultural heritage will be encouraged and supported.

• In the area of ​​cooperation , in addition to the efforts already underway, we must improve the quality and professionalism of our diplomats and our external missions, diversify and intensify cooperation to better support development and improve the rate of conception, d execution and monitoring of projects.

• The application of these measures will generate, with the completion of major public and private investment projects, over the coming years, more than 8,000 jobs .

My dear compatriots ,

Despite the campaign orchestrated by certain social networks, I am happy to note that our people still remain attached to the ideal they have set for a peaceful, stable and prosperous country.

To those who cry dictatorship, when we apply the law that they themselves developed, voted for and applied, constitutes a demagogic act which hides the truth from our people. We can be proud to confirm loud and clear that our country remains among the states respecting freedom of expression and pluralist democracy in Africa.

Faced with this situation, everything will be done so that this electoral campaign, where the sovereign people, will speak freely on the recommendations of the Conference, can do so in complete freedom and vote for this revision of the Basic Law.

Faced with this requirement, which underpins the meaning of our political action, I salute the work carried out by the parliamentary inquiry into economic citizenship and transmitted to the courts, the consequences of which have greatly tarnished the credibility of our country, internationally. Allow me, to this end, to greet the President of the National Assembly here present.

I note with satisfaction that thanks to the participation of the strong delegation of our Maoré compatriots in these National Conferences, the information and debates exchanged during this work, made it possible to correctly evaluate and analyze the situation, and to show its worrying development, which resulted in tragic events which affected our brothers and sisters living in this Comorian island.

The national consensus that emerged during these events strengthens our determination to defend national unity, to which we are all attached, to restore our legitimate rights on the Comorian island of Maoré, in compliance with international law. and within the framework of the safe and confident dialogue that we have initiated with our partner France, capable of preserving in the long term the respective interests of our two countries.

My dear compatriots,

Far from examining the innovative content of the proposals formulated by this constitutional revision project, some are pushing to limit the debate on the blocking of the functioning of the Constitutional Court, and the provisional transfer of its powers, to the Supreme Court.

Let us remember that in 42 years of independence, our State functioned for more than 25 years without a Constitutional Court.

The first four Heads of State were elected with a Supreme Court having a Constitutional Chamber.

It was from 2001 that we set up this institution. Without the necessary qualified personnel, and the non-designation of its members, this dysfunction of the institution which blocked its functioning, has been denounced since 2016, by one of its most influential former members, as a register chamber, without real technical competence to fulfill its true mission in the service of our people and cannot therefore become a source of controversy today.

Faced with the absence of a quorum required for its operation, it was my duty, as First Magistrate, guarantor of the Institutions, and by virtue of the powers given to me by article 12-3 of the Constitution, to temporarily transfer , the power of the Constitutional Court to the Supreme Court.

My dear compatriots,

Faced with these numerous challenges, the revised draft of the Constitution that I am proposing to you, for massive vote on July 30, is innovative in several areas. As you can see, it was developed by integrating all the orientations given by the recommendations of the Conference. These include:

• Reduction of Institutions and operating expenses of the State and the islands.

• The rotation is maintained and even reinforced, but the President of the Republic will be elected, not on a simply insular basis, but after a two-round majority election across the entire Territory.

• For the islands, management autonomy is reinforced, by maintaining the election of the Governor by universal suffrage, and by also determining its exclusive and shared areas of competence.

• The Civil Service will be standardized, in agreement with the Governors through laws which will be voted on in the Union Assembly. Instead of four structures, we will have a single administration, capable of controlling the State payroll, putting an end to the blocking of career development and recruiting qualified young people through competitive examinations.

• Decentralization will be strengthened by bringing the administration closer to each citizen to correct regional inequalities.

• The Diaspora will indeed be represented in the National Assembly under conditions which will be specified later by law.

• Youth and women will be better associated in the management of public affairs.

• The interests of businesses and foreign investors will be better protected.

• At the religious level, while confirming the role of the Grand Moufti as a high national authority, whose organizational and operating structures will be put in place by law, emphasis is placed above all on religious unity, to combat religious Shiism, sects and extremists who threaten the peace and unity of our country.

 As you can see, the challenges to be met are multiple and complex. We must without further delay initiate the necessary efforts to overcome the obstacles together, and provide the essential means to build a peaceful, stable, prosperous and emerging country by 2030.

 I will do everything within my power to ensure that this electoral campaign is peaceful and allows the Comorian people to express their views freely on this great project that they themselves developed, to improve their living conditions and ensure his future.

This is the meaning and content of this new draft Constitutional revision, which I have the honor to propose to you, so that you can vote for it massively, with a yes, on July 30, 2018.

Long live the Republic

Long live the Union of the Comoros,

Long live international cooperation,

May Allah bless our country.