After five days of intensive negotiations, Madagascar's four principal political factions have finally reached a partial agreement on the way forward in the crisis that has plunged the country into unrest since the overthrow of the former president, Marc Ravalomanana.
Under the auspices of Joaquim Chissano, former president of Mozambique, and other international mediators, four previous Malagasy heads of state agreed in Maputo on the formation of a transitional government to organize presidential elections by the end of 2010.
They could not, however, agree on the distribution of key posts in the transitional administration. This element of the negotiations has been put on hold and will be tackled in Maputo in the coming days. According to the United Nations representative at the talks, Tiébilé Dramé, the question will be the toughest part of the negotiations.
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According to the agreement reached by the protagonists – Marc Ravalomanana, Andry Rajoelina, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy – the 15-month timescale for elections takes effect as soon as the transitional agreement is signed.
Ravalomanana gave the assurance yesterday that he was not going to be part of the transitional government but nevertheless expressed his satisfaction with the results of the meeting. Deposed as head of state in March and sentenced in June to four years' imprisonment, Ravalomanana is currently in exile in South Africa. The Maputo agreement annulled the main charge against him.
The agreement also forbids any member of the current transitional government, other than its head (Rajoelina) from standing as a candidate in the 2010 presidential election.
It will be recalled that the international community has consistently called for a return to constitutional rule on the island. The agreement in Maputo has been welcomed and is widely considered a milestone in the return to peace and stability that the population has been deprived of since January.
Translated from the original French by Michael Tantoh
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