   |
|
afrol.com, 25 October - The president of the separatist state Anjouan, Colonel Said Abeid, has dissolved the local Parliament, a decision his own advisers find "particularly regrettable" in an interview with afrol.com. The opposition claims that Abeid prepares to cling to power after his mandate expires in December 2000. In an interview with afrol.com, Mr. F. Lecler, a close associate to Anjouan's President Abeid, confirms that the President recently decreed the dissolution of the National Assembly on the separatist island of Anjouan. This is "particularly regrettable," Lecler states. - The President made this decision in the absence of his special adviser, who at that time headed the Anjouanese delegation in Antananarivo [Madagascar], Lecler continues. "It seems that Mr. President was not sufficiently informed of the consequences of this decision, in particular its implications to the current peace and standardization process." The National Assembly maintains that its dissolution was not legal, as Col. Said Abeid was appointed Interim President, awaiting the first presidential elections. "Talks are currently in hand to cancel this decision and we hope that we find a reasonable solution, because no state, worthy of this name, can exist without respecting democracy," Lecler states, in a clear demonstration of opposition to the President's surprising decision. - We estimate that this fact is only the result of an incomprehension between President Abeid and the President of the National Assembly, he assesses the situation. "It is true that, seen from the outside, this fact gives the impression that a dictatorship is with the making on Anjouan. Actually, this is not the case; President Abeid is far from being a dictator," Lecler hurries to emphasize.
Lecler, which is based on Anjouan, reacts strongly when afrol.com presents him with the article published by PANA yesterday. In the article "the facts are deformed," he reacts promptly. "The objective is to attack the Declaration of Fomboni to be able to impose the "Agreement", which is not and agreement, of Antananarivo. To justify the implementation of this agreement, and even to justify a military intervention, the Anjouanese representatives are represented by all the evils in order to attract the sympathy of democracy and humans right defenders." Neither afrol.com nor Lecler were able to get in touch with Parliamentary President Saindou Chei to have him confirm the statements contributed to him. However, it "seems highly improbable to me" that Chei could have made such a statement, Lecler says. "The Anjouanese will certainly not accept any intervention on their island by the OAU, which is responsible, imposing its embargo, of the death of several hundreds of people. The recent unwise move by President Abeid, dissolving the Parliament, however, has brought Anjouan closer in loosing two of the most important battles, the media battle and the battle to gain support by international NGOs. Anjouan is gaining a reputation of a military dictatorship committing severe human rights abuses. Until this unwise action, the only reports of undemocratically actions on Anjouan came from non-Anjouanese groups based on neighbouring islands and opposing the Fomboni Declaration. If not cancelled, Abeid's dissolution of the Parliament could sparkle internal revolt and further negative international reactions. Anjouan certainly will not receive the humanitarian aid it desperately needs if the dictatorial image is let to consolidate. The tragedy is that it comes on a moment were Anjouan was starting to receive international sympathy on the background of the suffering caused by the OAU embargo, which even the UN organ IRIN skeptically contributed to the OAU's "sacrosanct principles" of territorial unity. Tomorrow, afrol.com discusses the human right situation on Anjouan with Lecler, where he comments on the reports of torture, massive deportations, arbitrary arrests and media censorship and invites any human rights organisation to visit Anjouan for themselves. Background
|
According to PANA, the President of the dissolved Assembly, Saindou Chei, despite his opposition to any involvement from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in the Anjouanese issue, has requested
OAU's Secretary-General, Salim Ahmed Salim, to envisage the possibility of sending a
peacekeeping force to Anjouan. PANA bases its article on interviews with Comoran
oppositionals to the Fomboni Declaration, a peace plan agreed upon by the Comoran and
Anjouanese governments, but disputed by the OAU.
