Comoros president’s young son expected future leader

Younger and impressive, the son of Comoros President Azali Assoumani has all the trimmings of a pacesetter in ready.

Because the ruling occasion of the small Indian Ocean archipelago gathered to nominate a brand new secretary common on the weekend, many thought the highest job would go to Nour El Fath Azali, 39.

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Would Azali settle for the occasion’s determination?

Azali himself — at present a personal adviser to his father — appeared open to taking up an even bigger position. “If the occasion asks me, I’ll settle for its determination,” Azali instructed AFP on the sidelines of the occasion within the capital Moroni, sporting a white shirt and a blue cap with the ruling occasion brand.

The Conference for the Renewal of the Comoros (CRC) ultimately handed one other time period to incumbent secretary Youssoufa Mohamed Ali, a veteran politician. And along with his father seeking to stay in energy for an additional five-year time period after elections subsequent yr, some consider Azali’s anointment might need solely been postponed.

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Azali, who describes himself as a “perfectionist”, has loved a rising public presence since his father, at present the pinnacle of the African Union, gained a disputed election in 2019.

As a presidential adviser, he’s usually seen alongside ministers at televised press conferences and was the driving power behind the CRC’s congress held at a Moroni lodge, the place he lower a busy determine.

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Given Comoros’s turbulent historical past and what critics say are Assoumani’s authoritarian tendencies; many consider he’s poised to take over the reins of the small nation of lower than one million folks.

“My dearest want is to see younger folks… take possession of politics,” mentioned authorities spokesman Houmed Msaidie in what seemed like an endorsement. “Nour El Fath Azali is a real chief, a visionary,” mentioned Soilihi Mohamed Djounaid, a distinguished CRC member who heads a state-owned power firm.

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Assoumani, 64, a former military chief-of-staff, got here to energy in a 1999 coup. After retiring from politics in 2006, he returned with a bang ten years later, successful a vote marred by violence and allegations of irregularities.

In 2019, he staged one other spherical of elections after persuading Comorans to vote in a controversial referendum to assist the extension of presidential phrases from one five-year time period to 2.

The rise of Azali has not happy Comoros

It was then that Azali, a shy father-of-three with an MBA in worldwide finance obtained in america, who beforehand labored in a financial institution, emerged from relative obscurity. But his rise has not happy everybody.

A CRC insider who requested for anonymity described Azali as “boastful”, accusing him of taking no prisoners in his quest for energy. “He’s making use of a scorched-earth technique, making an attempt to get rid of his father’s supporters from the political enviornment,” the insider mentioned.

“The CRC is a paper tiger tormented by deep inside divisions. This doesn’t bode properly with just some months to go earlier than the presidential election.” Achmet Stated Mohamed, a 2019 presidential candidate who just lately returned to Comoros after 4 years in self-imposed exile, mentioned Azali’s ascent was telling of the state of democracy in Comoros.

“He simply has the golden parachute of his dictator father. This can be a pretty widespread phenomenon widespread to all dictatorships,” he mentioned. Assoumani is extensively anticipated to run for an additional time period subsequent yr, with the primary spherical of voting scheduled for January.

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© Agence France-Presse