Independence

From 1971 to 1973 there was great political unrest in the islands. In December 1972 a union of pro-independence parties won 34 seats, while the MPM won only five. The French government submitted a document to the Comorian ministers endorsed by them in Paris on the15 ^th of July 1973. Under the terms of the document, independence was to be granted after a delay of five years and then only after a referendum on an island-by-island basis.

There was considerable resistance to these terms in the islands and when the French Colonial Secretary visited the Comoros in September, he was greeted by hostile demonstrations. In December 1974, a referendum produced a 94.6% vote for independence but in Mahoré (Mayotte), there was a 64% vote against independence. Following this, Ahmed Abdallah, the leader of one of the major political parties, announced on the 6::SUP of July 1975 a unilateral declaration of independence. The five deputies, however, from Mahoré (Mayotte) rejected independence but nonetheless on the 7::SUP of July, Ahmed Abdallah was elected as head of state and on the18 ^th of July, the OAU (Organization of African Unity) accepted the Comoros' membership.