Addis Ababa — The Executive Secretary of SADC (Southern African Development Community), Tomas Salomao, believes that the political factions in Madagascar will return to the negotiating table very soon to achieve a lasting solution to the crisis that erupted when the mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, seized power last March.

Speaking on Monday to Mozambican reporters covering the summit of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Salomao said that the mediating team, headed by former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, is doing all in its power to bring the factions back into dialogue in order to implement the agreements which they reached in two rounds of talks in Maputo last year.

Those talks involved Rajoelina, the elected president whom he overthrew, Marc Ravalomanana, and two previous heads of state, Didier Ratsiraka, and Albert Zafy. The four leaders agreed to set up a transitional government, but Rajoelina boycotted the third Maputo meeting, in December, which divided government portfolios between the four factions.

Rajoelina unilaterally appointed a new prime minister, and scrapped the power sharing deal. This, of course, ensured that Madagascar remains suspended from both SADC and the African Union.

"What SADC should do is work to find a lasting solution", said Salomao. "This is not easy, and we are all aware of this. We never imagined it would be easy. But with the support of all countries, I think we can be successful".

Asked whether there was an "outside hand" meddling in Madagascar, Salomao replied that, even if there is such interference, "the most important thing is that we do our job. Let's concentrate our attentions on helping the Madagascans solve their problems, showing them that taking power through the streets is not the way forward. There are democratic means of attaining power".

Salomao said that if Rajoelina thinks he is the best candidate with the best programme, then he should prove it by standing in free elections.

Madagascans are quite capable of choosing their leader, and if they choose Rajoelina "then he will have the support of all of us", said Salomao. "What is not acceptable, in the SADC region and on the continent, is to come to power by means of a coup d'etat".

He warned that, if Rajoelina and his group do not respect the agreements signed last year, SADC and the AU would mobilise the international community to "pass onto the next stage, which will be more difficult for him and which I think will put the Madagascan people in a difficult situation". He did not specify what measures might characterize "the next stage".

But he believed that good sense would prevail and that that Madagascan leaders would return to the negotiating table, and implement the decisions which they had already taken.