Ali Soilih M'Tsashiwa (; January 7, 1937 – May 29, 1978) was a Comorian

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

revolutionary and political figure who served as the third

President of the Comoros This article lists the heads of state of the Comoros, since the country gained independence from France in 1975. Term limits A new constitution, approved in the 2018 constitutional referendum allows the president to run for two consecutive f ...

from 3 January 1976 to 13 May 1978.

Biography

Soilih was born in Majunga,

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

on 7 January 1937. He spent much of his early life there, and was educated in Madagascar and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. During the early 1960s, he traveled to Comoros, where he worked in agriculture and economic development.

Rise to power

In 1967, Ali Soilih was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. In 1970, Ali Soilih entered politics as a supporter of Said Ibrahim, leader of the Democratic Assembly of the Comoran People, ''Rassemblement démocratique du Peuple Comorien'' (RDPC). He was appointed minister of equipment and tourism. He soon developed an ideology of hostility towards France as the former colonial power. His ideas were

, and he renounced his Islamic faith and became an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. On August 3, 1975, less than a month after Comoros gained independence from France, Soilih overthrew President

Said Mohamed Jaffar Prince Said Mohamed Jaffar (), full name Said Mohamed Jaffar El Amjad, (April 14, 1918 in Comoros – October 22, 1993) was the second President of Comoros ''(État comorien)'' from 3 August 1975 until 3 January 1976, as well as chief minister o ...

and became head of a revolutionary council that took over Comoros. Soilih, whose adherents were barely armed, hired French mercenary

Bob Denard Robert Denard (born Gilbert Bourgeaud; 7 April 1929 – 13 October 2007) was a French mercenary. He served as the ''de facto'' military leader of the Comoros twice with him first serving from 13 May 1978 to 15 December 1989 and again briefly f ...

to overthrow

Ahmed Abdallah Ahmed Abdallah Abderemane (, , 12 June 1919 – 26 November 1989) was a top Comoros, Comorian politician. He was a member of the French Senate from 1959 to 1973, and President of the Comoros from 25 October 1978 until his assassination in 1 ...

. He officially became President of the revolutionary council in January 1976. He acquired extensive powers under the terms of a new constitution and implemented socialist economic policies. In 1977 he held a referendum on his presidency, with 56.63% of voters endorsing it.

Revolutionary program

Soilih embarked on a revolutionary program that was mainly directed against the country's traditional Muslim society."Comoros: Security Concerns"
Country Data. Retrieved May 23, 2013. His vision, based on a mixture of

Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

and Islamic philosophies, was to develop the Comoros as an economically self-sufficient and ideologically progressive modern 20th-century state. Condemned as wasteful and cumbersome, certain inherited customs of Comorian culture were abolished, like the 'Anda', the traditional " grand marriage", as well as traditional

funerary ceremonies A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...

, which were criticized for being too costly. Soilih advanced the cause of the youth by allowing young people to take more power. In order to reach his goal, he lowered the voting age to fourteen and put teenagers in positions of responsibility. Among the most striking of his reforms were measures designed to gain the favor of the youth, like the legalization of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

and promoting the removal of the

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the human head, head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has be ...

among the women of Comoros. Soilih created the 'Moissy', a young revolutionary militia trained by Tanzanian military advisers. The Moissy was a Comorian version of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

, and its methods were similar to those that had been employed by their Chinese counterpart during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

Consequences

Soilih's confrontational policies led to France terminating all aid and technical assistance programs to the Comoros, while traditional leaders of the islands resented the progressive elimination of age-old traditions. The teenage Moissy, commanded by a 15-year-old chosen only for his loyalty to the president, behaved with outrageous arrogance, raping any women who resisted their advances and killing anyone who questioned their authority in the slightest. Hence, they were viewed by Comorians as a repressive force.Hebditch, David & Connor, Ken ''How to Stage a Military Coup: From Planning to Execution'' New York, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., page 135. Growing discontent promoted by the political opposition resulted in four unsuccessful coup attempts against the Soilih regime during its two-and-a-half-year existence.

Coup d'état and assassination

On May 13, 1978, Soilih was finally overthrown by a force of 50 mercenaries, the majority of them former French paratroopers hired by exiled former leader

and led by French Colonel

. Abdallah became president, Soilih's policies were reversed, and the name of the country was changed to "Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros". On May 29, Soilih was shot and killed; according to the government, he had attempted to escape from house arrest. He was 41 years old when he died.

Aftermath

More than 10 years later, in 1989, Soilih's older half-brother,

Said Mohamed Djohar Said Mohammed Djohar ( 22 August 1918 – 22 February 2006) was a Comorian politician who served as the fifth President of the Comoros from 1989 to 1995. Climb to power Born on 22 August in 1918 in Majunga, Madagascar, Djohar was the hal ...

, overthrew Abdallah, possibly with the help of Denard. He served as president of the Comoros until 1996. The effects of the social policies of Ali Soilih are still apparent throughout the Comoros, particularly on

Anjouan Anjouan () is an autonomous volcanic island in the Comoro Islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, part of the Comoros, Union of the Comoros. It is known in Comorian languages, Shikomori as Ndzuani, Ndzuwani or Nzwani, and, until the early twentie ...

.Rushby, Kevin (October 1, 2001)
"Another day, another coup"
''The Guardian''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soilih, Ali 1937 births 1978 deaths Presidents of the Comoros Ministers of foreign affairs of the Comoros Government ministers of the Comoros Tourism ministers of the Comoros Comorian socialists Assassinated Comorian politicians Deaths by firearm in the Comoros People murdered in the Comoros Malagasy emigrants to the Comoros Malagasy people murdered abroad Leaders who took power by coup Leaders ousted by a coup Heads of government who were later imprisoned Malagasy people of Comorian descent African politicians assassinated in the 1970s Assassinated presidents in Africa Politicians assassinated in 1978