Comoros President Azali Assoumani has appointed his son, Nour El Fath, to coordinate government affairs following a cabinet reshuffle that comes after a contentious January election. Opponents claim the election was marred by voter fraud.
The aftermath of the election saw violent protests erupting across the nation, an archipelago off the coast of Mozambique. One person was killed, and at least 25 were injured after the election commission declared Assoumani re-elected for his fourth five-year term.
Political analysts, opposition leaders, and local media suggest that Assoumani might be grooming El Fath, a 40-year-old with a background in finance and senior economic adviser to the president since 2019, as his successor.
The new cabinet, announced late on Monday, includes Ibrahim Mohamed Abdou Razakou as finance minister, Said Omar Houmadi as justice minister, and the reappointment of Youssoufa Mohamed Ali as defense minister.
Mohamed Jaffar Abbas, head of the coalition of opposition parties, criticized the move, accusing Assoumani of “trying to build a dynasty.” He pointed out that Assoumani’s nephew previously held the same position of secretary-general of the government.
Comoros, with a population of about 800,000, has faced around 20 coups or attempted coups since gaining independence from France in 1975 and remains a significant source of irregular migration to the nearby French island of Mayotte.
In 2018, constitutional reforms extended the requirement that the presidency rotate among the three main islands of Comoros from every five years to ten. Consequently, El Fath would be ineligible to replace his father at the end of the presidential term in 2029 unless the constitution is amended again.
