Comorian constitutional referendum, 2009

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A constitutional referendum was held in the Comoros on 17 May 2009. The constitutional amendments were approved with 93.9% in favour, with a turnout of 51.8%.

Comoros sovereign archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean

The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an island country in the Indian Ocean located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel off the eastern coast of Africa between northeastern Mozambique, the French region of Mayotte, and northwestern Madagascar. The capital and largest city in Comoros is Moroni. The religion of the majority of the population is Sunni Islam.

Contents

Background

President Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi proposed extending his term for two years in order to hold all elections simultaneously in 2011, as well as to reform the constitutional structure of the Comoros to save money. However, opposition parties and those from other islands were opposed to this, seeing it as a ploy to extend his term of office at the expense of the other two islands. Other constitutional amendments would make Islam the state religion and downgrade the status of the presidents of the constituent islands to governors, as well as allowing the president to dissolve the Assembly of the Union. [1]

Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi President of Comoros

Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi is a Comorian Islamic leader and politician, and former President of Comoros. He is popularly known as 'Ayatollah'. After easily winning the 14 May 2006 presidential election with 58.02% of the national vote, Sambi was inaugurated as President of the Union of the Comoros on 26 May 2006. It was the first peaceful transfer of power in the history of the Comoros.

A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". This is intended to protect a democracy from becoming a de facto dictatorship. Sometimes, there is an absolute or lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve; sometimes, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms he or she may serve.

Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God, and that Muhammad is the messenger of God. It is the world's second-largest religion with over 1.8 billion followers or 24% of the world's population, most commonly known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 50 countries. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, unique and has guided humankind through prophets, revealed scriptures and natural signs. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the verbatim word of God, and the teachings and normative example of Muhammad.

The referendum was originally scheduled for 22 March 2009, but was postponed due to disagreements over the content.

Results

ChoiceVotes%
For156,05593.91
Against10,1246.09
Invalid/blank votes7,017
Total173,196100
Registered voters/turnout334,63651.76
Source: African Elections Database

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