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Last Updated: Jan 28, 2009 - 9:00:40 AM |
This Sunday morning Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana, was away
in South Africa preparing to attend a SADC summit on Zimbabwe. Word
came that there was rioting in the streets of the capital, Antananarivo
. He cut short his visit and flew into his country Sunday afternoon to
handle the situation. He was welcomed at the airport by thousands of
his excited supporters, cabinet ministers and his prime minister,
Charles Rabemananjara. His troops surrounded him and escorted him back
to his residence.
There he was informed that the Mayor of the capital, Andry Rajoelina,
had gone ahead with his threat to lead a general strike and to protest
the closing of his station Viva TV in December 2007 by Ravolomanana.
The new Mayor, who is only 34, had been elected to his office in early
December 2007 as an opposition party to the President’s Tiako i
Madagasikara (I love Madagascar) party. The tensions between the
President and the Mayor have been intense. On the 17th of January 2009
the Mayor inaugurated a Democracy Square in the city in the presence of
20,000 supporters. The President was furious and heightened the level
of police and army readiness. The Mayor called for a demonstration in
the capital on Saturday. The Government banned the demonstration but it
went on anyway, involving more than 25,000 protesters.
The pressure and violence kept building and, by Sunday, there were
armed protesters, looters and disaffected youth pouring through the
down town streets. Thousands more demonstrators demanding a new
government took to the streets Monday and set Madagascar's state TV
complex (controlled by the President) on fire to protest the shut-down
of Andy’s TV station in December. In addition, an oil depot linked to
the president could be seen on fire on the outskirts of the capital.
During these attacks, the police and fire-fighters were nowhere to be
seen. Local observers believe that they supported the protest (which
had the support of the labour movement.) Over the weekend, Andy and,
his deputy Andriamahazo Nirhy-Lanto. and their supporters had called
for a general strike to begin Monday. Andy appeared at a central square
in the capital on Monday morning, criticizing the government. He was
surrounded by supporters wearing orange jackets — he has tried to model
his campaign on Ukraine's 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution.
The primary issue between the two men is that Marc Ravalomanana is one
of the richest men in the country. Ravalamomanana owns substantial
properties around the island; operates the nation's biggest food
company; controls his own radio station and a television station; he
owns two newspapers and a construction company. Recently, President
Ravalomanana agreed to the lease and sale of large parcels of land to
the South Korean company Dawoo for the cultivation of rice. This rice
is wholly exported to South Korea, At the prices they charge, most
Madagascans can hardly purchase a few kilos for consumption. The
President maintains a ‘carrying interest’ in the project.
Ravalamomanana has attracted a number of international firms to the
country, seeking to exploit Madagascar's reserves of nickel, cobalt,
bauxite and ilmenite, oil, gold, coal, chromium, platinum and uranium.
The Indians have always had a major share of the burgeoning gemstone
industry. The President is involved in many of these undertakings.
Both sides have called for an end to violence and looting and the
opening of negotiations. Rioters had earlier raided Radio Nationale
Malgache in the city centre, while two warehouses of Ravalomanana's
Tiko food processing company as well as his television station (MBS)
were also partially burned, witnesses and officials said.
Andry Rajoelina accuses the president, who was re-elected to a second
four-year term in 2006 of manifesting dictatorial tendencies. The first
election of Ravalamomanana in the 2001 election was a prolonged battle
with his predecessor, Didier Ratsiraka, who had been head of state from
independence days ( 26 years). The post-election violence which
followed the 2001 election only ceased when the High Constitutional
Court upheld Ravalamomanana's victory. The post-electoral fight lasted
for almost eight months before Ratsiraka fled to exile in France.
At least two people died on Monday when tens of thousands of
anti-government protesters flooded the streets of Madagascar's capital,
burning the state-owned TV and radio station. A policeman and a
14-year-old child have been killed during the demonstration so far and
calm has not yet returned to the streets.
It seems very unlikely that Andy Rajoelina will be able to generate the
kind of support that will drive the President from office. His power
lies in the capital and, although there is great discontent in the
country because of the economic slowdown, rising prices and stagnation
this doesn't’t translate into power. The President still has the
loyalty of the Amy; a loyalty which he pays for (in cash).
The question which must be answered is “Who is behind this protest?”
Many think that the very real objections to Ravalamomanana’s
dictatorial rule by the masses of the capital, however real, are not
the sole motivation. There are many observers who see in this a French
presence. The French have been unhappy with the independent policies of
the President in inviting outside companies to participate in
Madagascar business and this is their way of prodding him (as in the
Comores) back to his French loyalties. Ratsiraka has been living in
exile in France since 2002, only returning last year. Although an
independent Andry was friendly with ex-president Didier Ratsiraka.. It
was Andry’s interview with Ratsiraka which got Viva TV banned.
So, one must await further developments. It seems the French only want
to shake things up a bit, not make a major change with an uncontrolled
Andry.
Source:Ocnus.net 2009
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