Tony Okerafor
15 November 2009
"Today is great day for the African Union [AU] and for me personally, I'm really happy, because what we achieved here is peace, stability, security to Madagascar".
(Mr. Wadraougou, the AU special envoy to Madagascar, addressing a news conference in Antanarivu a week ago).
"I'm very glad to have this situation, to reach an agreement for sharing power.... This is very important for our country to get out of this crisis; because all the Malagasy people have suffered, and support it"
(Madagascar's ousted president, Marc Ravlomanana, speaking to journalists same day).
Since winning its independence from France in the 1960's, the Indian Ocean island called Madagascar had been struggling with democracy. Like most of its counterparts across the African continent, Madagascar has battled with corrupt regimes, military coup d'états, civil unrests, economic maladministration and the invocation of "people-power" when self-serving dictators would not go voluntarily.
The four prominent men who have ruled the island-nation since the departure of the France are still relevant to national politics today; and it is in this regard that Madagascar appears to stand out. For many months, starting last year , a major political crisis has been playing out in that country, following the forcible departure, under military pressure, of its last popularly elected president Marc Ravlomanana by the former mayor of its capital Antanarivo, thirty-five- old Andre Rajoeline.
First elected in 2001, Ravlomanana, a self-made businessman, needed nothing short of a popular revolt to take office, because his long-serving predecessor, Didie Ractciraq, had refused to accept defeat. Rajoeline's army-backed coup happened, after several weeks of popular street protest by his supporters failed to take out Mr. Ravlomanana.
Ousted, but, not lacking in popular support himself, Marc Ravlomanana has managed to keep the "transitional government" that replaced him on its toes. In and around Antanarivu, Rajoeline's military-backed government has not managed to find any lasting answers to the rising wave of public support that the ousted president's cause has been garnering in recent months.
To make matters worse for the unelected government of Madagascar, the African Union, the European Union, the United Nations and the regional grouping, SADEC [Southern Africa Economic Development Commission], have taken and stuck to virtually one line since that crisis erupted. They say that Mr. Rajoeline's ascension to power via the barrel of the gun, so to speak, cannot be given legitimacy by foreign governments, except a resolution of the crisis is amicably reached by all the various parties to the conflict. So, the transitional government has had no real choice, other than to negotiate with the camp of their archrivals.
Despite enjoying a level of diplomatic backing from the International community, Mr. Ravlomanana has not had everything going for him. All along, he has been asking for his mandate to be returned to him; in other words, for his archrival and successor, Mr. Rajoeline, to vacate power. But, Mr. Rajoeline, enjoying relatively strong support among the generals, has shown a tenacity to hang on, so has compelled the other camp to back down, somewhat on some demands.
So, the peace process has steadily dragged on, not just due to the intransigence of both Ravlomanana and Rajoeline, but, equally, because of the involvement of two other stakeholders, two former president in their own rights Mr. Ratciraq and his predecessor, Albert Zaphie.
Only a couple of months ago, representatives of the four principal players met for a week under the auspices of the regional body, SADEC. As each party left the venue of the meeting, the mediator quickly came out to put a statement which some interpreted as an attempt to put a brave face to a failed process. They announced to the world that the parties had resolved little else, but, that they were returning to their various headquarters to, as the A.U's special envoy to Madagascar put it, "continue the talks and discussions via the internet". That was a new one on diplomacy, let alone the art of conflict resolution anywhere on the globe.
However, what appears to have happened is that the so-called "internet diplomacy" did actually lay the foundation for t he good news that emerge from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, ten days ago.
Before the Addis Ababa summit, it seems that everybody was stuck to its gun, with no-one prepared to compromise on anything. But, after two days of extended talks, a breakthrough emerged, because, for the first time since the negotiations started, the question now became one of whether a government of national unity would happen in the troubled island. A power-sharing arrangement? That had not appeared remotely feasible even days ahead of November 7.
At the revised peace talks in Addis Ababa between the incumbent Head of State, Mr. Rajoeline, and the man he ousted, Mr. Ravlomanana, a deal of sorts has now happened, it would seems because somehow, both men have had a meeting of minds on the key issues of who will be heading the unity government. In other words, would the elected former president now be prepared to accept Mr. Rajoeline, who ousted him, as president of the new government?
Also, Mr. Ravlomanana had been pressing hard for the creation of a "joint presidency", as a one way of making everyone happy. But, of greater importance, some have said is the fact that both men, already bitter enemies, actually sat together at the negotiating-table.
"It is a very positive step" one member of the Ravlomanana delegation spoke of the face-to-face meeting between the two principal actors. So, what really came out into the limelight in Addis Ababa, following those tortuous days of talks between the two sides?
Well, the first indications of an agreement came at around 10:30 PM GMT when Madagascar's incumbent leader left the negotiations and made the following statement to journalists: "It has been decide, it has been agreed and accepted by the four-party leaders, that the president of the transition has been confirmed as Ange Razwell. There was supposed to be a vice-president, we will call it "co-presidents". We will have co-presidents. It is the title that has changed".
In truth, it was a breakthrough, because the night before, Mr. Rajoeline (or Ange Razwell) had angrily stormed out, insisting that unless an agreement in October that created the post of a transitional president, as well as vice-president and prime minister, was respected, he would not talk or negotiate further,. He complained he had given enough concessions in the interest of peace, having sacked the prime minister he had appointed to make ways for a replacement from the party of longtime president, Didie Ratciraq.
Mediators from the international contact group on Madagascar had, because of threat, to extend the talks for an extra day. Before they started, Mr. Marc Ravlomanana had indicated that he would not accept Mr. Rajoeline as president, and wanted him blocked from contesting the general election due next year. His position was seen as the main obstacle to any resolution. But, in a major U-turn just after his archrival spoke to the press, the ousted president declared himself to be pleased with the outcome of the negotiations.
Interestingly, Mr. Ravlomanana himself does not get any position in the transitional arrangement. However, one of his party members has been named to the job of co-president of the council that will include his erstwhile rivals. Other members of his party will take up posts in the transitional government.
The new transitional arrangement comprises an interim government, a Transition Congress and National Reconciliation Council, and have been given no less than twelve months to organize general elections in the troubled island-nation.
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This article is shockingly sloppy. All the names of the key players have been misspelled along with the name of the capital of Madagascar -- Antananarivo. I am surprised that All Africa would allow such unprofessionalism, and it certainly calls into question the quality of the substance of the reporting when the style is so unthoughtful.