Comoros Ethnicity in Comoros

Group selection The Union of the Comoros is composed of the three islands Nzwani (French: Anjouan), Mwali (Moheli) and Ngazidja (Grande Co- more). The Comorian language (Shikomoro) is spoken in ways dis- tinctive to each island and “loyalties to an island’s culture strongly influence affiliation to one or another political party” (1220). There- 1220 [Minority Rights Group International, 2017] fore, the inhabitants of each island are understood as different ethnic group. This understanding contrasts previous quantitative studies on ethnicity, polarity and fractionalization, which classify Comoros as a homogenous society (e.g. 1221; 1222; 1223). Our coding is justi- 1221 [Green, 2012] fied by the political organization of the country today, especially the 1222 [Scarritt and Mozaffar, 1999] 1223 rotation-principle of the presidency between the islands (see below) [Montalvo and Reynal-Querol, 2005] and their constant struggle for more autonomy in the history of the state (1224). This process produced political movements such as the 1224 [Baker, 2009] “Anjouan Popular Movement” with island-specific affiliations (1225). 1225 [Wikipedia, 2017] The shares of the population for each group are taken from Eth- nologue (1226). They roughly correspond to other estimates and 1226 [Simons and Fennig, 2017] descriptions of the population make-up:

• Nzwani Comorans: 337,000 inhabitants (44.3%)

• Mwali Comorans: 40,000 inhabitants (5.2%)

• Ngazidja Comorans: 384,000 inhabitants (50.5%)

Power relations The three islands participating in the Union of the Comoros declared independence from France on 6 July 1975. The fourth island of the archipelago, Mayotte (Mahore), voted against independence and has remained under French rule.

1975 - 1997

Since independence, Comoros has experienced a history of inter- island tensions and repeated successful and attempted coups. In particular, the people of Nzwani (Anjouan) long felt marginalized by the Union government based in Moroni on the island of Ngazidja (Grande Comore) (1227). However, there is not much evidence for 1227 [Baker, 2009] particular political repression in that period. The grievances seem to be rather economic, because Nzwani had the strongest economy and epr atlas 439

did not feel compensated enough. Therefore, the Ngazidja Comorans are coded as senior partner, the Nzwani Comorans and the Mwali Comorans as junior partners.

1998 - 2001

In 1997, the islands of Nzwani (Anjouan) and Mwali (Moheli) de- clared independence from the union and sought to join France. However, France rejected the rapprochement and left the three is- lands in a standoff between the Comorian government and rebel factions. In 2000, the African Union imposed sanctions on the Co- morian government, pressuring it to the negotiating table. South Africa guided the country through a process of constitutional reform, which was adopted one year later in 2001 (1228). In this period, 1228 [Minority Rights Group International, 2017] Nzwani Comorans and Mwali Comorans are coded as self-excluded with regional autonomy and the Ngazidja Comorans as dominant.

2002 - 2018

Comoros adopted a new constitution in 2001 through which each island gained its own president and greater autonomy, and the three island presidents also served as vice presidents in the Comorian Union government. The office of the president of the Union rotated among the three islands in 4-year terms (1229). The constitution 1229 [Minority Rights Group International, 2017] thus restricted those eligible to run for the union presidency to those residing on a particular island in an election year. Aside from the rotation principle, “anyone meeting constitutional requirements of age, residency, citizenship, and good moral character may run for office” (1230). Freedom House reported in 2016 that political parties 1230 [U.S. Department of State, 2016] operated freely, but “mainly formed around particular leaders and draw on island or ethnic bases of support” (1231). Therefore, all 1231 [Freedom House, 2016] groups are coded with senior partner status for this period and with regional autonomy. It should be noted that the country faced further political troubles since then (see eg. 1232). However, the constitution 1232 [Baker, 2009] remained in place and the influential parties usually managed to return to the status quo.

2019 - 2021

In 2018, a disputed constitutional referendum eliminated the single- term federal presidency that had rotated among the three islands since 2001. It further granted the president the power to abolish the positions of the three vice presidents representing each island (1233). This move was largely seen as a power grab by incumbent 1233 [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020] President Azali Assoumani of Ngazidja (Grande Comore), who had previously also abolished the Constitutional Court (1234). Following 1234 [Freedom House, 2020] the referendum, early presidential elections were held in March 2019 and won by Azali Assoumani, granting him two more terms in office under the new constitution. The elections were not deemed credible neither by the opposition nor international observers (ibid.). As a epr atlas 440

consequence of these developments, the islands of Nzwani (Anjouan) and Mwali (Moheli) lose executive political power at the national level and become powerless in the coding. The islands further lose regional autonomy status, as the new constitution “significantly reduced the size and authority of the islands’ governorates” (1235). 1235 [U.S. Department of State, 2018] As opposed to most assessments of Comoros (see above), EPR defines each Island’s population as one ethnic group based on dif- ferences in dialects and the notion that people identify with their local communities and at the island-level rather than the national level (1236, 8). This ethnic differentiation is retained until 2021, 1236 [Geginat et al., 2019] but should be reassessed in the next update as recent reports in- dicate that ethnicity as defined here might no longer play a salient role with regard to political affiliations. This became evident as re- ports about Azali Assoumani’s power grab hardly mentioned his geographical background, while opposition to his authoritarian style arose on all three islands with unrest erupting primarily on Nzwani (Anjouan) (1237), 1238). Moreover, while divides between islands 1237 [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020] certainly continue to exist, their nature is often not described in eth- 1238 [Deutsche Welle, 2018] nic terms, as the following quote highlights: “Despite their common socio-linguistic identity and the unifying force of Islam, [economical] imbalances between the islands have deepened divides” (1239, 7). 1239 [Geginat et al., 2019] Bibliography

[Baker, 2009] Baker, Bruce. (2009). Comoros: The Search for Viabil- ity. Civil Wars 11(3), 215-233.

[Deutsche Welle, 2018] Deutsche Welle. (2020). Komoren: Präsi- dent will Föderalismus abschaffen. Retrieved on 18.08.20 from: https://www.dw.com/de/komoren-pr%C3%A4sident-will-f% C3%B6deralismus-abschaffen/a-44898529

[Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2020] Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2020). Comoros. History. Retrieved on 18.08.20 from: https://www. britannica.com/place/Comoros/History

[Freedom House, 2016] Freedom House. (2016). Freedom in the world reports 2016. Comoros. Retrieved on 12.12.17 from: https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/ comoros

[Freedom House, 2020] Freedom House. (2020). Freedom in the world reports 2020. Comoros. Retrieved on 18.08.20 from: https://freedomhouse.org/country/comoros/ freedom-world/2020

[Geginat et al., 2019] Geginat, Carolin; Jose Luis Diaz Sanchez; Marco Ranzani; Neelam Nizar Verjee; and Nadia Belhaj Hassine Belghith. (2019). Comoros. Towards a More United and Prosper- ous Union of Comoros. Systematic Country Diagnostic. World Bank Group. Retrieved on 18.08.20 from: http://documents. worldbank.org/curated/en/354101559590231457/

[Green, 2012] Green, Elliott. (2012). The Political Demography of Conflict in Modern Africa. Civil Wars 14(4), 477-498.

[Minority Rights Group International, 2017] Minority Rights Group International. (2017). World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Groups. Comoros. Retrieved on 30.11.17 from: http://minorityrights.org/country/comoros/

[Montalvo and Reynal-Querol, 2005] Montalvo, Jose G. and Reynal- Querol, Marta. (2005). Ethnic Polarization, Potential Conflict, and Civil Wars. American Economic Review 95(3), 796-816.

[Scarritt and Mozaffar, 1999] Scarritt, James R. and Mozaffar, Sha- heen. (1999). The specification of ethnic cleavages and ethnop- olitical groups for the analysis of democratic competition in epr atlas 442

contemporary Africa. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 5(1), 82- 117.

[Simons and Fennig, 2017] Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fen- nig. (2017). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twenti- eth edition. Comoros. Retrieved on 06.12.17 from: https: //www.ethnologue.com/country/KM/languages

[U.S. Department of State, 2016] U.S. Department of State. (2016). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2016. Comoros. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Retrieved on 06.12.17 from: http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/ humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2016&dlid=265240

[U.S. Department of State, 2018] U.S. Department of State. (2018). Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018. Co- moros. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Re- trieved on 19.08.20 from: https://www.state.gov/reports/ 2018-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/ comoros/

[Wikipedia, 2017] Wikipedia. (2017). List of political parties in the Comoros. Retrieved on 12.12.17 from: https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_Comoros Political status of ethnic groups in Comoros

From 1975 until 1997

Group name Proportional size Political status Ngazidja Comorans 0.505 SENIOR PARTNER Nzwani Comorans 0.443 JUNIOR PARTNER Figure 229: Political status of ethnic Mwali Comorans 0.052 JUNIOR PARTNER groups in Comoros during 1975-1997.

From 1998 until 2001

Group name Proportional size Political status Ngazidja Comorans 0.505 DOMINANT Nzwani Comorans 0.443 SELF-EXCLUSION Mwali Comorans 0.052 SELF-EXCLUSION

Figure 230: Political status of ethnic groups in Comoros during 1998-2001. From 2002 until 2018

Group name Proportional size Political status Ngazidja Comorans 0.505 SENIOR PARTNER Nzwani Comorans 0.443 SENIOR PARTNER Mwali Comorans 0.052 SENIOR PARTNER

From 2019 until 2021 Figure 231: Political status of ethnic groups in Comoros during 2002-2018. Group name Proportional size Political status Ngazidja Comorans 0.505 DOMINANT Nzwani Comorans 0.443 POWERLESS Mwali Comorans 0.052 POWERLESS

Figure 232: Political status of ethnic groups in Comoros during 2019-2021. Geographical coverage of ethnic groups in Comoros

From 1975 until 1975

Figure 233: Map of ethnic groups in Comoros during 1975-1975.

Group name Area in km2 Type Table 80: List of ethnic groups in Comoros during 1975-1975. Ngazidja Comorans 1048 Regionally based Nzwani Comorans 445 Regionally based Mwali Comorans 207 Regionally based

From 1976 until 2021 epr atlas 445

Figure 234: Map of ethnic groups in Comoros during 1976-2021.

Group name Area in km2 Type Table 81: List of ethnic groups in Comoros during 1976-2021. Ngazidja Comorans 1048 Regionally based Nzwani Comorans 445 Regionally based Mwali Comorans 207 Regionally based Conflicts in Comoros

Starting on 1989-11-26

Side A Side B Group name Start Claim Recruitment Support Government of Presidential guard 1989-11-26 Comoros

Starting on 1997-09-02

Side A Side B Group name Start Claim Recruitment Support Government of MPA/Republic of Nzwani Comorans 1997-09-02 Explicit Yes, from EGIP Yes Comoros Anjouan