Abbas Jimoh
15 February 2009
Civil Society Groups have condemned the reckless killing of over 100 persons in Madagascar and the destruction of several media institutions in the country.
A statement signed by Lawal Amodu, on behalf of Africa Vision 525 Initiative and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) also flayed the African Union (AU) for failing to intervene in the crisis, lamenting that AU ignores rampant corruption in governance but jumps to protest military coups that are provoked by criminal impact of bad governance in Madagascar. "We the undersigned CSO based in Nigeria, note with deep concern the reckless use of arson by angry rioting groups as well as shootings by military personnel which have resulted in the death of over 100 persons and the destruction of property including broadcast stations and other media institutions including the building housing the government-owned Radio Nationale de Malagache," the statement titled; stop the killings in Madagascar said. It added, "We note that the crisis was triggered by a general strike called by the former mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina. Tempers boiled over into ransacking, looting, burning of properties following the President's announcement of the arrest of the former Mayor of Toamasina, Rolland Ratsiraka, and General Dollin Rasolosoa personal assistant to the Mayor; and the closure of radio stations owned by members of the opposition, including Viva TV owned by Andry Rajoelina."
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1- First of all, the 1991 conflict was between Amiral Didier RATSIRAKA and Pr. Albert ZAFY, not of Mr. Marc RAVALOMANANA as the article says. Precisely, it is unacceptable that in most African countries, power is often taken through the street, but Mr. Ravalomanana Marc was democratically elected. In the Northern countries, people can express their anger and frustration toward the government or certain policies but that has never led to a coup d’Etat or to destitute the President from his seat before he can finish his term. Beside the death of certain people, the saddest thing in this whole situation is this gruesome willingness to slow down, or even to destroy the economy of Madagascar just when it starts to grow. In fact, the efforts of the actual government to boost the economy of this country has already had some concrete results because, the economic growth of this country between 2003 and 2006 is 6%. The governmental efforts to improve the social life of the population has also had tremendous impacts as infants death rates have been reduced significantly. It is, however, true that there still are challenges and difficulties to overcome so that the most vulnerable population will enjoy the impact of the economic growth. This requires everybody to work together to support the best practices and strategic reorientations where in this context of globalization, the responsibilities of the government, of the citizens, and of the unions are linked. 2- About the term limit for the President, we, in Madagascar, have already learned our lesson from the reign in power of Amiral Didier RATSIRAKA which was too long (almost a quarter of century where only the few people that surrounds him enjoyed the benefits). Our Constitution now mandates that a candidate, who is elected President, can only be elected for two other terms.
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