Editing Politics of the Comoros (section)

== Fourth Constitution ==
In a separate nod to pressure to restore civilian rule, the government organized several committees to compose a new constitution, including the August 2000 National Congress and November 2000 Tripartite Commission. The opposition parties initially refused to participate in the Tripartite Commission, but on 17 February, representatives of the government, the Anjouan separatists, the political opposition, and civil society organizations signed a "Framework Accord for Reconciliation in Comoros," brokered by the [[Organization of African Unity]]

The accord called for the creation of a new [[Tripartite Commission for National Reconciliation]] to develop a "New Comorian Entity" with a new constitution. The new federal Constitution came into effect in 2002; it included elements of [[consociationalism]], including a presidency that rotates every four years among the islands and extensive autonomy for each island. [[Comoros Presidential elections, 2002|Presidential elections]] were held in 2002, at which Azali Assoumani was elected president. In April 2004 [[Comoros legislative election, 2004|legislative elections]] were held, completing the implementation of the new constitution.

The new Union of the Comoros consists of three islands, [[Grande Comore]], [[Anjouan]] and [[Mohéli]]. Each island has a president, who shares the presidency of the Union on a rotating basis. The president and his [[Vice-President of the Comoros|vice-presidents]] are elected for a term of four years. The constitution states that, "the islands enjoy financial autonomy, freely draw up and manage their budgets".

President Assoumani Azali of Grande Comore is the first Union president. President Mohamed Bacar of Anjouan formed his 13-member government at the end of April, 2003.

On 15 May 2006, [[Ahmed Abdallah Sambi]], a cleric and successful businessman educated in [[Iran]], [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Sudan]], was declared the winner of elections for President of the Republic. He is considered a moderate [[Islamist]] and is called [[Ayatollah]] by his supporters. He beat out retired French air force officer [[Mohamed Djaanfari]] and long-time politician [[Ibrahim Halidi]], whose candidacy was backed by [[Azali Assoumani]], the outgoing president.<ref>{{cite news 
  | title = Islamist elected Comoros leader
  | work = BBC News
  | date = 2006-05-16
  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4772499.stm
  | access-date = 2009-05-20}}</ref>

A referendum took place on May 16, 2009, to decide whether to cut down the government's unwieldy political bureaucracy. 52.7% of those eligible voted, and 93.8% of votes were cast in approval of the referendum. The referendum would cause each island's president to become a governor and the ministers to become councilors.<ref name=allafrica20090519>{{cite news 
  | title = Comoros: Referendum Approves Downscaling of Government
  | publisher = AllAfrica Global Media
  | date = 2009-05-19
  | url = http://allafrica.com/stories/200905190777.html
  | access-date = 2009-05-20}}</ref>