TITLE III. INSTITUTIONS OF THE UNION
Chapter I. Executive Power
Article 12
The President of the Union shall be the symbol of national unity. He shall be the guarantor of the inviolability of the borders as internationally recognized and of the sovereignty of the Union. He shall be the arbiter and the moderator of the proper functioning of the institutions. He shall be the highest representative of the Union in international relations.
The President of the Union shall determine and conduct the foreign policy. He shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers; foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him. He shall negotiate and ratify treaties.
The President of the Union shall be the Head of Government. In this capacity, he shall determine and conduct the policy of the Union. He shall have at his disposal the administration of the Union and shall have the power to make regulations. He shall make appointments to civil and military posts of the Union.
The President of the Union shall be the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies. He shall be responsible for external defense.
The President of the Union shall be vested with the power to grant pardons.
Article 12.1
The President of the Union may, after consulting the President of the Assembly of the Union, declare the Union Assembly dissolved.
The general election of the representatives of the Union shall take place no fewer than twenty days and no more than forty days after the dissolution.
In this case each island shall appoint new representatives to the Assembly of the Union from the ranks of its Council.
The former representatives of the islands appointed to the Assembly of the Union shall not be reappointed in the year which follows the election of the Assembly, unless a renewal of the Council of the island concerned has taken place.
The Assembly of the Union shall sit as of right on the second Thursday following its election. Should this sitting fall in a period between two sessions, a session shall be convened as of rights for a fifteen-day period.
No further dissolution shall take place within a year following said election.
Article 12.2
The President of the Union may delegate certain of his powers to the Vice Presidents.
Article 12.3
Where the constitutional institutions, the independence of the nation, the integrity of its territory or the fulfillment of its international commitments are under serious and immediate threat, and where the proper functioning of the constitutional authorities is interrupted, the President of the Union shall take the emergency measures required by these circumstances, after formally consulting the Council of Ministers, the President of the Assembly of the Union and the Constitutional Court.
These measures shall be inspired by the will to provide the constitutional authorities as swiftly as possible with the means to carry out their duties.
The President of the Union shall address the nation and inform it of such measures. The Assembly of the Union shall sit as of right. It shall not be dissolved during the exercise of the emergency powers. It may terminate the emergency powers by vote of a two-thirds majority of its members.
Article 12.4
The President of the Union may, upon authorization by the Assembly of the Union, enact legislation by ordinance on matters which fall normally within its jurisdiction. The ordinances shall be tabled before the bureau of the Assembly in the session following the end of the authorization period fixed by the Enabling Act.
Article 12.5
In order to discuss issues concerning the political, social or economic life of the nation the President of the Union may, subject to the terms of the Constitution of the Union, convene and chair a conference in which the Vice Presidents, the President of the Assembly of the Union, the Governors and the Presidents of the Island Councils take part.
A Vice President or the President of the Assembly of the Union may chair the conference upon delegation by the President of the Union.
Article 13
The presidency shall rotate among the islands. The President and the Vice Presidents shall be elected by direct universal suffrage under a system of majority voting in two rounds for a term of five years, subject to the rotation. A primary shall be held in the island concerned and only the three candidates which have received the highest numbers of votes cast may stand in the presidential election. In no case may the presidential primary be held on two successive occasions on the same island.
Before taking office the President of the Union and the Vice Presidents take an oath before the Constitutional Court with these words spoken in the Comorian language:
“I swear before Allah, the Merciful and the most Compassionate, to loyally and honestly fulfill the duties of my office, to act only in the general interest and in conformity with the Constitution.”
The conditions of eligibility and the modalities of application of the present Article shall be fixed by Institutional Act.
Article 14
In the case of a vacancy or permanent incapacity of the President occurring within nine-hundred days after the beginning of his term and duly declared by the Constitutional Court upon request by the Government, a new President shall be elected. If the vacancy or the permanent incapacity occurs later than nine-hundred days after the start of the term, the Vice President from the island which is next in line for the presidency shall complete the presidential term. In the first case the councilors and mayors of the island concerned convene in Congress within forty-five days and vote, and only the three candidates who have obtained the highest numbers of votes are allowed to stand in the indirect election by the representatives of the assemblies of the islands and the Union convened in Congress. The election takes place with the absolute majority of the members of the Congress. If this majority is not obtained on the first ballot, a second round of voting will be held in which a simple majority of the members present shall suffice for the election.
The elected President shall complete the current term.
During the period of forty-five days mentioned in the first paragraph of the present Article, the functions of the President shall temporarily be exercised by the Vice President from the island whose turn it is to take over the rotating presidency. He shall not change the Government, nor dissolve the Assembly, nor have recourse to the emergency powers.
Article 15
The functions of President of the Union and of Vice President shall be incompatible with the exercise of any other elective mandate, any other political function, any public post, any public or private professional activity and any leadership function in a political party or group. Nevertheless the Vice Presidents of the Union shall be given responsibility for a ministerial department. An Institutional Act shall determine the issues for which the countersignature of the Vice Presidents is needed.
The Vice President shall coordinate the action of the different ministerial departments in the island he comes from and monitor the lawfulness of the decisions taken by the executive of that island.
Article 16
The President of the Union, with the assistance of the three Vice-Presidents, shall appoint the Ministers and other members of the Government whose number shall not exceed ten (10). The Government of the Union shall be composed in a manner which ensures the just and equitable representation of the islands.
The functions of Minister shall be incompatible with the exercise of any elective national mandate except those conferred by the territorial communities, any function of professional representation, any public post and any professional activity.
Article 17
The President of the Union shall promulgate Acts of the Union within fifteen days following the final passage of an Act and its transmission to the Government. He may, before the expiry of this time limit, ask the Assembly of the Union, which shall decide by absolute majority, to reopen debate on the Act or any sections thereof. Such reopening of debate shall not be refused.
Article 18
The President of the Union shall establish an annual report on the state of the Union for the information of the Assembly of the Union, the Constitutional Court as well as the assemblies and executives of the islands.
Chapter II. Legislative Power
Article 19
The Assembly of the Union shall be the legislative body of the Union.
It shall enact the statutes, including the statutes on the execution of the budget, adopt the budget and control the action of the Ministers and other members of the Government.
Article 20
The Assembly of the Union shall be composed of:
- twenty-four (24) representatives of the nation elected by universal suffrage in single-member constituencies on the basis of majority voting in two rounds;
representatives of the autonomous islands appointed by the Island Councils from among their ranks, at the number of three (3) for each autonomous island.
The members of the Assembly of the Union shall wear the title of Deputy of the Union. The National Assembly shall be renewed integrally. The powers of the Assembly shall expire at the start of ordinary April session of the fifth year following the election of the representatives of the nation. In the case of a dissolution, the elections of the representatives of the nation shall take place in the sixty days preceding the expiry of the powers of the Assembly of the Union.
An Elections Act shall determine the modalities of the vote and the delimitation of the constituencies whose number shall not be inferior to three in each island. The modalities and the terms of the appointment of the representatives of the autonomous islands in the Assembly of the Union shall be determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Council of the island concerned. The Island Council shall proceed each year to the appointment of its representatives at the Assembly of the Union. The functions of Deputy of the Union Assembly of a representative from an autonomous island shall expire simultaneously with the powers of the Council of that island. Each Deputy who ceases to be a member of the Council of the island he comes from shall cease at the same time to be a member of Assembly of the Union. He shall be replaced.
The President of the Assembly of the Union shall be elected for the duration of the legislature.
An Institutional Act shall determine the conditions and modalities for the election of the Deputies of the Assembly of the Union and its President, the terms of disqualifications and incompatibilities applying to members as well as their allowances. It shall specify the manner of election of those persons called upon to replace the Deputies whose seats have become vacant until the general or partial renewal of the Assembly of the Union.
The Assembly of the Union shall adopt with the majority of two thirds of its members its Rules of Procedure. Before their application the Constitutional Court shall rule on their conformity with the Constitution.
Article 21
No Member of the Assembly of the Union shall be prosecuted, investigated, arrested, detained or tried in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast in the discharge of his functions.
No Member of the Assembly of the Union shall be prosecuted or arrested in penal matters nor shall he be subjected to other custodial or semi-custodial measures during the session period without the authorization of the Assembly, except in the case of a crime or offense committed flagrante delicto.
No Member of the Assembly of the Union may be arrested between session periods without the authorization of the Bureau of the Assembly, except where a crime or offense has been committed flagrante delicto, prosecutions have been authorized or a conviction has become final.
Article 22
No Member shall be elected with any binding mandate.
The right to vote of the Members of the Assembly of the Union shall be exercised in person.
Union legislation may in exceptional cases authorize voting by proxy. In that event, no member shall be given more than one proxy.
Article 23
The Assembly of the Union shall sit as of right in two ordinary sessions each year whose total duration shall not exceed six months. The days and hours of sittings shall be determined by the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Union.
The Assembly of the Union shall meet in extraordinary session at the request of the President of the Union or of the absolute majority of the Deputies to debate a specific agenda. The extraordinary session shall be closed not later than fifteen days after the Assembly’s first sitting.
Article 24
The sittings of the Assembly of the Union shall in principle be public, except in the cases provided for in the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
Article 25
Both the President of the Union and the Deputies shall have the right to initiate legislation.
Government Bills shall be discussed in the Council of Ministers and shall be tabled in the Bureau of the Assembly of the Union.
The Deputies and the Government shall have the right of amendment.
Private Members’ Bills and amendments introduced by Members of the Assembly of the Union shall not be admissible where their enactment would result in either a diminution of public revenue of the Union or the creation or increase of any public expenditure of the Union.
At the request of the Government or of the Assembly of the Union Government Bills and Private Members’ Bills shall be referred for consideration to committees established by the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Union or specially set up for this purpose.
Article 26
Acts of Parliament which are defined by the Constitution as being Institutional Acts shall be enacted and amended as provided for hereinafter.
A Government or Private Member’s Bill shall not be debated and put to the vote in the Assembly of the Union until fifteen days have elapsed since the tabling thereof.
Institutional Acts shall be passed by a majority of two thirds of the Members of the Assembly.
At the request of all the Deputies from one island the debate on the Act must be reopened.
The Acts shall be promulgated after the Constitutional Court has declared their conformity with the Constitution.
Article 27
The Assembly of the Union shall adopt the Finance Bills with a two-thirds majority.
Should the Assembly of the Union fail to reach a decision within sixty days, the provisions of the Bill may be brought into force by Ordinance.
Chapter III. Judicial Power
Article 28
The judicial power shall be independent of the legislative power and the executive power.
In the exercise of their functions the judges shall only be subject to the authority of the law.
Judges shall be irremovable from office.
The President of the Republic shall be the guarantor of the independence of the judiciary. He shall be assisted by the High Council of the Judiciary, whose composition, organization and functioning as well as the procedure to be followed before it shall be determined by Institutional Act.
An Institutional Act shall regulate the status of judges and prosecutors.
Article 29
The Supreme Court shall be the highest judicial authority of the Union in criminal and private law cases, administrative and auditing matters of the Union and the islands. The decisions of the Supreme Court shall not be subject to appeal and shall be binding on the executive power, the legislative power and all authorities in the territory of the Union. An Institutional Act shall determine the composition as well as the rules for the functioning of the Supreme Court.
Article 30
In the case of high treason the President, the Vice Presidents and the members of the Government shall be brought before the Supreme Court sitting as High Court of Justice. An Institutional Act shall determine the composition of the High Court, the rules for its functioning and the procedures applicable before it.
