Ali Soilih

Ali Soilih M'Tsashiwa (; January 7, 1937 – May 29, 1978) was a Comorian socialist revolutionary and political figure who served as the third President of the Comoros from 3 January 1976 until a French-backed coup-d'etat toppled him on 13 May 1978. Soilih was then captured, tortured with a bayonet and killed while trying to escape.

Biography Soilih was born in Majunga, Madagascar on 7 January 1937. He spent much of his early life there, and was educated in Madagascar and France. 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. He was appointed minister of equipment and tourism.

On August 3, 1975, less than a month after Comoros gained independence from France, Soilih overthrew President Ahmed Abdallah and became head of a revolutionary council that took over Comoros. Soilih, whose adherents were barely armed, hired French mercenary Bob Denard to perform that task. He officially became President of the revolutionary council in January 1976 replacing Said Mohamed Jaffar. 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. His vision, based on a mixture of Maoism and Islamic philosophies, was to develop the Comoros as an economically self-sufficient and ideologically progressive modern 20th-century state. as well as traditional funerary ceremonies, 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 and promoting the removal of the veil among the women of Comoros.

Soilih created the 'Moissy', a young revolutionary militia trained by Tanzanian military advisers.

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 militia, 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. 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. 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 11 years later, in 1989, Soilih's older half-brother, Said Mohamed Djohar, 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.