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Madagascar: UN Chief Welcomes Rajoelina Stepping Aside
UN News Service, 17 January 2013
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomes the decision by the President of the Transition in Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, not to run in the forthcoming presidential ... read more »
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Madagascar: Summit Raises Fresh Questions Over Elections
Tanzania Daily News, 14 January 2013
THE summit of the SADC Troika on Politics, Defense and Security Cooperation, in Dar es Salaam over the weekend again put the political developments in Madagascar in the limelight, ... read more »
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Madagascar: Rajoelina Makes No Promises
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, 12 January 2013
Contrary to the expectations of SADC (Southern African Development Community), Andry Rajoelina, the man who seized power in Madagascar in 2009 has not given any promise that he ... read more »
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Southern Africa: Region Pushes Rajoelina to Step Aside
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, 10 January 2013
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) wants to hear a decision from Andry Rajoelina, the man who seized power in Madagascar in 2009, that he will not stand in the ... read more »
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Southern Africa: Regional Leaders Propose Madagascar Election Bans
allAfrica.com, 11 December 2012
Southern African leaders want to bar Madagascar's deposed president, Marc Ravalomanana, from standing in new elections - despite condemning as unconstitutional his ousting in 2009. read more »
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Madagascar: Regional Leaders Call for Deposed President's Return
allAfrica.com, 13 June 2011
Southern African leaders have called on Madagascar's rulers to allow exiled leaders, including the deposed president, Marc Ravalomanana, to return home. However, the country's ... read more »
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Madagascar: Ravalomanana's Fate Bedevils Talks
allAfrica.com, 9 June 2011
The return to Madagascar of its deposed and exiled president, Marc Ravalomanana, is creating profound division among the political formations which met in Botswana this week to ... read more »
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Quite Right! Neither the DJ, his gangster staff nor his handlers (the French) will let anyone else gain power. Two quotes stand out:
"It is better that I sacrifice myself than our entire nation of more than 22 million."
...since 2009 the country has been sacrificed without regard to the poor, human rights or the future...
"It is necessary to have a vision. I am the solution for today, and I will remain so tomorrow,"
...clear enough...
Will the the destruction of our country continue? How much more must we bare?
After he did a coup d'état and kicked out the democratically elected members of parliament, the international community approved Rajoelina having the power to name the members of government, members of parliament, members of the electoral council, mayors, etc and to remain president until a new president is elected (no wonder Rajoelina is not keen to hold elections). South Africa violated the AU sanctions against Rajoelina by inviting to him to the ANC celebrations in January 2012. France used its military assistance to help shore up Rajoelina's power after the coup. Now Rajoelina wants to stay in power through the election, wants SADC approval to keep Ravalomanana and Ravalomanana's wife out of the country until after the election. The UN has frequently gone along with Rajoelina's plans, supporting France's provision of diplomatic protection (complete with bodyguards) while he was doing the coup; more recently in July 2012 supporting through silence the kicking out of the country of Ravalomanana's wife (in violation of her right to return to her country); now the UN is dragging its feet to start an investigation into major human rights violations by Rajoelina's security forces in southern Madagascar.
This is no victory for SADC's quiet diplomacy as a South African news story reported. Rather it is a tragedy for the Malagasy people. And a terrible precedent of international support for the perpetrator of a coup d'état.
Just today Rajoelina's security forces were in place to repress a protest march that Lalatiana Ravololomanana had said she would lead to commemorate Rajoelina's inauguration of a place he called the "place of Democracy" at Ambohijatovo park 4 years previously. At the time, Rajoelina had said that the place of democracy was where people could come and say whatever they want without needing authorization. It wasn't long after he came to power before his security forces were shooting people who wanted to exercise their right to free speech at Ambohijatovo and no one was allowed to protest there without his permission -- permission he has resolutely refused to give.
Meanwhile today, workers from Rajoelina's favorite construction company were busy tearing out the Queen's Stairs in downtown Antananarivo, replacing them with shinier slabs of rock given by Rajoelina to the people of Madagascar. Never mind that the stairs that were put in place over 100 years ago were still perfectly functional and that taking them out destroys the country's history, that there are other stairs in Antananarivo that are so in need of repair that it puts people in danger to use them, and that doing long-term projects is a violation of the SADC roadmap. But the roadmap is something that Rajoelina has always applied as he sees fit, with SADC never evaluating its implementation or sanctioning him for failure to apply the parts he doesn't want to apply.
In sum, Madagascar is still a long way from free and fair elections and still in the clutches of a coup d'état régime that makes a mockery of things the international community says it holds dear, like democracy, human rights, and rule of law.
A good way for the UN to help the people of Madagascar is to start an investigation of the human rights violations allegedly perpetrated by the Malagasy security forces in southern Madagascar. Prime minister Beriziky agreed to such an investigation on 28 November 2012 following the report of Amnesty International about a week prior (http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/madagascar-must-end-mass-killings-and-inves tigate-security-forces-2012-11-20) but up to now the investigation has not been started. It has now been almost 7 months since the first report of security forces burning a village was first made public. Now there is evidence of about 30 villages having been burned by security forces as well as summary killings and a gang rape. When will the UN help the Malagasy people by spearheading an investigation?