Society Activities Politics in Madagascar

ISSN 2045 -4236 Dece mber 2014 Issue no. 86 Society activities Politics 1 At the Society’s daytime event on Saturday 18 th October there Economy and social 4 were a variety of talks, from Mialy Andriamahefazafy on environmental policy in Madagascar; from a team of Tourism 8 four Newcastle University zoology graduates Rachel Blow, Jessica Fisher, Camilla Blasi Foglietti and Donna Marie Minerals 9 Wintersgill on their recent expedition to study lemurs in the Tampolo forest; and from Franco Andreone on the conservation Wildlife 9 strategy for amphibians in Madagascar, while his partner Olga performed songs from her latest album. Publications 10 The dates for our meetings in 2015 are Wednesday 25th March, Events 11 Wednesday 24 th June and Saturday 24 th October. We will have more details in the new year on our website at www.anglo- Charities & NGOs 12 malagasysociety.co.uk , which also has a summary of previous talks for those unable to attend, together with much other useful information. This includes directions to the venue for our meetings, which is the Upper Vestry Hall of St George’s Church, Bloomsbury, London WC1A 2HR, two minutes’ walk from the British Museum. The next newsletter will be published in March 2015. Please send any material for inclusion as well as any changes in your contact details to the editor Julian Cooke, whose e-mail address is [email protected] . Politics in Madagascar The last three months has seen some further change in Madagascar and most notably the return of former president Marc Ravalomanana from five-and-a-half years of exile in South Africa. Ravalomanana returned to a country that remained in something of a political quandary with the current President Hery Rajaonarimampianina struggling to cope with a series of challenges, not least because of the make-up of the National Assembly. The Haut Cour Constitutionelle (HCC) ruled that to be legitimate the opposition should be parliamentary; it was responding to 1 a request for an opinion from the prime minister Roger Kolo, given that none of the parties in the lower house had formally adhered to the opposition. Ravalomanana himself in early October rescinded his support for the current regime and was followed by most deputies in his TIM party, although the leader of his movement Roland Ravatomanga remained in a position of power as Minister of Agriculture. Jean-Pierre Lasoa, the deputy for Antalaha and an architect of the Plateforme pour la Majorité Présidentielle (PMP), resigned from his party on 10 th October. That day also marked six months since Roger Kolo became prime minister, and he was due to report on his government’s progress by the end of the month. While it was expected that the team would be exonerated of any shortcomings, on 22nd October Richard Fienena was sacked as Minister of Energy owing to the persistent problems at the state utility JIRAMA, which raised issues on the continuing support for the PMP from his party VPM-MMM with its sixteen deputies. The President appeared to have little confidence in the government of Kolo and had fragile support from the PMP. He appointed a number of special advisers, particularly economic ones including Léon Rajaobelina from Conservation International. One of his ministers and the head of the presidential party HVM, Rivo Rakotovao, attempted to construct a ‘14 th October Convention’ to establish a new basis of government or perhaps a new way to secure positions of influence; the initiative received little support and was cancelled on 9th October. Over the weekend of 11-12th October Ravalomanana returned unexpectedly at the airport at Antsirabe; although he had indicated two days previously that his return was imminent, he had tried returning to Madagascar several times since 2009 but had each time been prevented by the authorities, who cited fears of instability. The former president spoke to crowds from the balcony of his house in the capital. While he said that he had returned not to bring trouble but to bring peace and work for Madagascar's development, he did say that although the new regime had the backing of the international community it lacked legitimacy and that he himself would not wait until the presidential elections due in 2018 to put into effect his own plans. After the speech special forces fired tear gas at the crowd and took him into custody. He was detained but not arrested nor imprisoned but rather kept safe from various threats, according to Rajaonarimampianina, who reiterated the importance of a spirit of reconciliation. Ravalomanana was taken by helicopter and held at an Admiralty villa on the naval base at Antsiranana, far from the capital. His family, his supporters at the Magro complex in Behoririka and the Protestant church FJKM criticised the nature of his detention, as did Raymond Ranjeva and the Comité de Réconciliation Nationale led by another former president, Albert Zafy. The international group GIS-M met at the offices of the African Union (AU), which condemned Ravalomanana’s balcony speech and any questioning of the legitimacy of the regime; the French government and the European Union endorsed this view, with the EU saying the unexpected return had the support of neither the AU nor the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The United States also supported the democratically- elected government. Gert Grobler, the South African ambassador, met Arisoa Razafitrimo, the 2 Malagasy foreign minister; the ambassador said later that his country had not known of nor helped the return. Members of Ravalomanana’s family visited him and said that while he had not been mistreated he was a virtual prisoner. His supporters threatened to extend their protest meetings, which were at first banned then broken up; opponents, including the Association des Victimes du 7 Février (AV7), called for him to serve the sentence of life imprisonment to which he had been condemned. There was also debate on whether by using an unauthorised foreign aircraft in Malagasy airspace he was liable to conviction for treason following a 2005 law that had been established in his presidency to prevent the return of Didier Ratsiraka. The presidency said on 19 th October that it expected events to move quickly and for Ravalomanana to participate in a dialogue, while the head of the FJKM, Lala Rasendrahasina, was not allowed to visit him. The next day Ravalomanana’s wife Lalao said that it was a time for dialogue and national reconciliation, and that the only enemy was poverty. Andry Rajoelina and his supporters, however, said they would not participate in a reconciliation process. Lalao and her family made a second, brief visit on 24 th October while their former chief bodyguard Jean-Marc Koumba (originally from Gabon and a German citizen) was taken in for questioning. Ravalomanana was allowed to leave to attend the funeral of his sister. At the end of October a judicial enquiry was opened apparently at the bequest of Aviation Civil Madagascar (ACM), the operator of various airports including Antsirabe, the director and three employees of which had been detained. The Ravalomanana movement suggested that there was no basis for the enquiry and that it was a personal vendetta by James Andrianalisoa, the head of the ACM, who had been sacked as head of Air Madagascar for supposedly letting it fail in a bid to take it private. Christine Razanamahasoa, a staunch supporter of Rajoelina and the Minister of Justice in his transitional régime, said Ravalomanana should be jailed for five years for an unauthorised return, which would preclude his standing in elections in 2018. There was confusion over a possible trial and a representative of the AU went to Antsiranana to hold discussions, while Lalao met Rajaonarimampianina. Over the course of November the possible inquest failed to materialise and the five remained in detention while Ravalomanana’s lawyers were unable to meet with him. At the end of the month the South African government said that it would hold its own enquiry into the affair. The Assembly was due to debate the budget or Loi des Finances, which had been delayed according to the finance ministry by the uncertain timing of external aid, and deputies were apparently concerned to secure the 4x4 vehicles they believed they were due to them. Parliament was in a state of flux, after the 21 deputies in Ravalomanana’s TIM party left the PMP but did not all back a much-discussed motion of censure, under persuasion from two key leaders Hanitra Razafimanantsoa and Guy Rivo Randrianarisoa. It was not the first time that rumours of such a motion had arisen and the picture was uncertain; censure would need the signatures of half the deputies and the support of two-thirds of them to pass. On 24 th October the motion was said to have failed with 101 deputies against and 76 in favour, a little confusing given that there are only 151 in total. 3 Jean-Eric Rakotoarisoa, a professor of constitutional law, was elected as the president of the HCC at the end of October, the first time a non-jurist had taken the role. His two fellow members are due to replaced when the new Senate under the Fourth Republic is established. A member of MAPAR, the party supporting Rajoelina, called on the President to dissolve the National Assembly due to persistent reports of corruption and he laid accusations against Laisoa, who had been behind the original censure motion. The ordinary session of parliament was due to consider the budget, the proposed National Development Plan and a law to create the new Haute Cour de Justice. MAPAR called for Kolo to face a vote of no-confidence and did not vote for the budget; the Loi des Finances was nonetheless adopted unanimously at the end of November by the 103 deputies present.

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