Photo: http//:lexpress.mu Madagascar's transitional president, Andry Rajoelina, is facing internal revolt in his inner circle as he battles to stave off implementation of the SADC elections roadmap and hold on to power on the troubled island.
Some members of his government and the judiciary are now privately calling on the ex-disk jockey to step down.
Rajoelina has colluded with some senior military, police and intelligence figures, and France (Vol 29 No 14 and No 15), to frustrate the SADC-sponsored process aimed at restoring a democratic government. In the latest example, Rajoelina and his allies last month prevented ousted President Marc Ravalomanana from returning to Madagascar. Ravalomanana's return is an explicit requirement of the roadmap document signed in September 2011.
However, tensions are growing between Rajoelina and his security allies on the one hand, and senior political figures in the transitional government he leads on the other. Transitional Prime Minister Omer Beriziky, in particular, has broken ranks with Rajoelina. Last week he told Ojaniaina Dina Andriamaholy, chief legal advisor of the High Transitional Authority (Rajoelina's temporary government) and vice president of the Administrative Court, that the SADC roadmap in its current form was unnecessarily generous to Rajoelina and gave him inordinate powers.
Andriamaholy, already sceptical of Rajoelina's regime, advised the prime minister to use the country's High Constitutional Court to counter Rajoelina's powers and actions, particularly with regard to strict implementation of the roadmap. In a recent decision, the court adopted the SADC roadmap as a Malagasy legal instrument, giving its provisions and timetables the power of Malagasy law. This paves the way for amnesty legislation to be passed, setting aside Ravalomanana's conviction in absentia by a criminal court that critics say was controlled by Rajoelina.
The High Constitutional Court, by adopting the SADC roadmap as a legal instrument, effectively made Rajoelina's government subject to SADC authority, a point insiders say Andriamaholy made to the frustrated Beriziky.
Pressure regarding the roadmap is now mounting on Rajoelina from within his own camp. Insiders suggest high-level tension with the army and the judiciary over the slow implementation of the programme. Some senior security figures fear the return of Ravalomanana would have direct personal consequences for them, since they were directly involved in ousting the former president in a coup in 2009 and installing Rajoelina, a 34-year-old ex-Antananarivo DJ, as president of the country. These elements have pressured Rajoelina to resist the SADC reform process.
However, this has led to as yet private but growing calls on Rajoelina to step down as transitional president from some quarters of his inner circle. They argue he has failed to restore stability and normality to the troubled island state.
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