Official name
The Comorian Union
Form of state
Federal Islamic republic
Legal system
Based on the Napoleonic code and sharia (Islamic law), the constitution was approved in outline by referendum in late 2001
National legislature
Each of the three islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli, has an individual parliament, with different numbers of seats, which are elected directly; the Union has a legislative assembly with 33 members: 24 members of parliament are elected by direct universal suffrage and nine are appointed by the three islands
Head of state
President
National government
Ahmed Abdallah Sambi won the May 2006 presidential election with 58% of the vote; this was the first time that the presidency had been revolved between citizens of different islands, as laid out in the 2000 Fomboni Accord
National elections
Elections for Union president and the governors of the three islands were held simultaneously in late 2010; the first round of voting took place in November and the second round in December; the results have been confirmed by the country's Constitutional Court; the transfer of power to the president-elect is to take place before May 26th 2011; legislative elections took place in December 2009
Main political parties
Comoros has a weak party structure; the political landscape consists of a large number of parties, mainly based on personal loyalties; political alliances are, similarly, typically geared towards supporting a particular leader; the winner of the 2006 presidential election, Mr Sambi, was a founder of the Front national de la justice, an Islamist party; he is now supported by a grouping of parties called the Baobab coalition; the Baobab coalition also secured 19 out of 24 seats in the 2009 election to the Union parliament
Union government
Union president: Ahmed Abdallah Sambi
President-elect: Ikililou Dhoinine
Vice-president in charge of agriculture, fisheries, environment, energy & handicrafts: Idi Nadhoim
Key ministers
Defence, interior & information: Ibrahima Houmadi Sidi
Education, research, culture & the arts: Fouad Ben Mohadji
Elections: Abdourahamane Ben Cheikh Achiraf
External relations & co-operation: Fahmi Said Ibrahim
Finance, budget & investment: Mohamed Bacar Dossar
Health, solidarity & gender promotion: Sounhadj Attouman
Industry, labour, employment & women's entrepreneurship: Moussa Abderemane
Justice, prisons & Islamic affairs: Mohamed Ahmed Djaffar Mansoib
Posts & telecommunications: Houdhoer Inzoudine
Public service, administrative reform, institutional decentralisation & human rights: Djazila Saindou
Governors of the islands
Anjouan (Nzwani): Anissi Chamisidine
Grande Comore (Ngazidja): Mouigni Baraka Said Soilihi
Mohéli (Mwali): Mohamed Ali Said
Central Bank governor
Vacant