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Referendum on allowing Ahmed Abdallah to run for a third term and creating the position of PM | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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A constitutional referendum was held in the Comoros on 5 November 1989. The proposed amendments to the constitution would allow incumbent President Ahmed Abdallah to run for a third term while establishing the office of Prime Minister. [1]
The official result was a 92.5 percent majority in favor of the amendments proposed by Abdallah. [2] [1] This created "the conditions for a life presidency," warned one opposition leader. [1] Voting was marked by manipulation by the government. [1] Opposition groups reported that polling places lacked private voting booths, government officials blocked the entry of opposition poll watchers, and the army and police removed ballot boxes before voting ended. [1] Reaction to these abuses was unusually angry. [1] In Njazidja voters smashed ballot boxes rather than have them carted away by the army; the governor's office in Nzwani was set on fire, and a bomb was found outside the home of the minister of finance in Moroni. [1] More than 100 people were arrested following the referendum, and in subsequent weeks the international media described a deteriorating situation in the islands; Abdallah claimed that France "authorizes terrorism in the Comoros," and leaders of the banned opposition questioned the legitimacy of the referendum in public statements. [1]
On 26 November Abdallah was killed during a coup led by Said Mohamed Djohar.
