Thoughts on Foreign Politics

 The last couple of weeks have been a blur. I have been really busy catching up after the Christmas period and have been visiting other centres to pick their brains on budgets and protocol. We have had really good news from the Ministries and have been progressing nicely. To celebrate these little achievements Lalasoa invited me to her village of Tsararay to have a quick meeting and join her for lunch with her family.

I made my way on the busses from my village to hers; head leaned up against the window watching the landscape slide by as the foreign becomes familiar. It took me three hours to reach her house and when I did I was greeted not by an acquaintance, or even a colleague, but a friend. Her dogs even know me now and her unruly brood has recently been joined by a new puppy and a posse of tiny kittens.

NEW PUPPY CALLED TOM

She was delighted to see me and even more so when I commented on the fact that the embroidered table cloth I bought her for Christmas was proudly decorating her dining room table. I was presented with two new raffia bags for my birthday and we laughed and chatted together as we prepared a lasagne. When her husband and son arrived home I was given a small demonstration of the English their 9 year old has learned since I last saw him, after which we all sat down to admire the golden crispy-topped pasta pie as it emerged from the oven. It quickly became clear that this was a special meal that Lalasoa had decided to prepare in my honour, “so that there is no rice” in her words, and no one from the family had ever tried it before. This simple fact made lunch an adventure for the Rand family and an absolute delight for me.

My new bags

Mme Lalasoa preparing lunch

The next day I had planned to head into Tana to do some more Ministry visits and go to the post office but when I returned home I found the volunteer co-ordinator anxiously waiting to meet me. She told me that they had received warning of demonstrations scheduled for the following day relating to the upcoming elections and that all staff for whom travel into the capital was not absolutely necessary were being advised to avoid it. Of course I readily agreed, thanked her for the caveat and went about my business.

Later, when I found myself alone, I stared out of my window watching the women walking to and fro, impossible loads balanced atop their heads, hips swaying, mouths moving in smiles and gossip. Behind them, the men were leaning against the café fronts, lazily playing dice, cards or dominoes and watching the women go by. It was then that the warning returned to me and I suddenly realised that although I had heeded the alarm without hesitation, I was now finding it hard to reconcile the tranquil scene before me with the simultaneous incidences of violence and political unrest occurring throughout the country; this being particularly true of the Southern provinces from which rumours and reports of riots and banditry come thick and fast.

And yet I know that Madagascar has always had a turbulent history, from its pre-history to the creation of the Kingdom of Madagascar and well into colonization. Independence brought new hope and yet here we stand, on the brink of an election which promises to bring turmoil and unrest.

Throughout its earliest periods waves of settlers from Borneo brought with them the cultures and practices of South America. They were soon joined by Arab communities from Northern and Eastern Africa and Bantu-speaking settlers from East African tribes. Although Madagascar is thought to be one of the last places on earth to have been inhabited by humans it did not take long for tribal competition and distrust to form wedges between the different communities on the island and several powerful kingdoms were formed. Even today it is clear to the naked eye that the highland Malagasy of the Antananarivo region and the peoples of the coastal communities have different ancestry, language and customs. There is tension even now between the different Malagasy tribes and accusations of superiority, exclusion and betrayal emerge on all sides.

Malalagasy tribal distributions

This does not necessarily surprise me, even at home in Malta, on an island which stands 25km long at its widest point, with a population more homogenous than almost any other on earth, there are factions and resentment, created over time through ties of ancestry and political attitudes following independence and most recently, religion and creed, added to the mix in the last decade or so by a new wave of East African migrants. So on the worlds 4^th largest island I am not surprised to see a similar phenomenon, its just that the Malagasy have more room in which to separate themselves and more opportunity to perpetuate the fables of ‘them’ and ‘us’.

When Madagascar was a kingdom it enjoyed prosperity brought by maritime trading routes and its abundance of natural resources. In the early 19^th century King Andrianampoinimerina of a province in the central highlands and his successor King Radama expanded their power over the other kingdoms and in doing so united Madagascar under one ruler from the Merina tribe.

Radama signed treaties with the British, abolished the slave trade and welcomed British missionaries and military personnel onto the island. It seemed that perhaps British rule was not far off but then something unexpected happened. Radama was very suddenly succeeded by his wife, the infamous Queen Ranavalona, in 1828. Her attitude toward the potential for colonization was clear- she declared the new religion (Christianity) treasonous, throwing accused Christians off the cliffs surrounding the capital to their deaths, or burning them alive in public executions. She exerted great military and political pressure on all resident foreigners who had settled on the island to return to the continent and began a reign famed for its brutality and strength. Under ‘the mad queen’ many Malagasy met their fate, either through punishment for crimes against the crown or from over exertion in the fields, however she succeeded in her goal throughout her life to maintain her sovereignty and so the independence of Madagascar.

Queen Ranavalona

Her son, Radama II, succeeded the queen in 1861 and by 1863 a coup lead to the deposition of the king and the creation of Madagascar’s first democratic process and its first Prime minister, who married Radama II’s queen and so began a new era of co-operation between monarchy and political process.  In 1883, mid-way through the second Prime minister’s 31-year term the French invaded Madagascar. The invasion was based on a contract, controversial even at the time, signed by Radama II during his short reign, called the Lambert Charter in which trading agreements between Madagascar and France had been created in his attempt to court the Western powers following his mother’s rule.

It took 14 years until 1897 for the French to fully colonize the island, during which time they lost many men to disease and climate and had to overcome resistance and rebellion at every turn. The independence movement continued to bubble and swell under French rule until WWII after which a peaceful transition to independence was facilitated by both sides, culminating in full independence for the island of Madagascar on the 26 June 1960.

Since this time Madagascar has rapidly sped through four different republics and countless leaders. Two presidents were overthrown due to discontent, one was assassinated just six days into his term, and his successor was in power for just four months. This was when President Ratsikara was chosen to move the country away from the ‘neo-colonial’ First Republic into the Socialist-Marxist Second Republic which he oversaw from 1975 to 1993 when his guards opened fire on protestors at a rally, necessitating his resignation. Two short-term presidents followed, one of whom inaugurated the Third Republic and in 1996 Ratsiraka returned to power, amongst promises of decentralization and economic reform, where he remained for the next five years.  2001 saw the appointment of Ravalomanana in a contested election, which was followed by a seven-month standoff between respective supporters. The next few years saw accusations of increasing authoritarianism and corruption grow, until finally in 2009 Andry Rajoelina was awarded power by the military after a widely acknowledged coup d’état.

Ravalomana and his family were exiled and Rajoelina, who was previously mayor of Tana and a prominent local DJ, was acknowledged as an interim leader until such time as an election could be organized. However the elections have been postponed and rescheduled for years and Rajoelina remains in power. Much speculation has circulated as to whether Ravalomana would even be be allowed to run if the elections were conducted after several failed attempts on his part to return to the country. The Ravalomana-Rajoelina factions have been getting increasingly competitive with rebel groups and bandits taking advantage of the distraction to increase their activity in the Southern provinces. The elections were guaranteed by the current administration to occur before the end of 2012, another promise which failed to be realized, however the last few weeks have seen real steps forward for the democratic process of Madagascar.

The elections have been scheduled and confirmed for 8^th May 2013 with second-round presidential elections set for 3^rd July of the same year. This program has since been initiated and excitement was building as to whether Rajoelina would allow Ravalomana to return to the country to run his campaign. However, in the true tradition of Malagasy power-plays a very unexpected turn of events came early this week. Amongst much whispering from both camps it was shockingly announced that neither Rajoelina nor Ravalomana will run in this presidential election.

This news spread fast and left many feeling deflated, betrayed and aimless after years of fighting for recognition and the right to vote for one or the other. It surprised me too as apart from these two likely gents there seems to be a lack of political muscle ready to take on the challenge of coordinating the first presidency since the coup which saw much international interest and support in the country die off. Some see this new development as a positive step forward where the Malagasy can let go of old rivalries and look forward to some fresh new faces on the political stage.

I am not so sure. I worry that the power vacuum created by the abrupt departure of these two opposing figures will encourage a fight for supremacy based even less on political vision and aptitude than before. The potential re-emergence of old tribal tensions and the opportunistic types that might be attracted by this new prospective power could make the run up to the election fractious and volatile. Furthermore with a lack of experience and a lot of ground to catch-up after the democratic failures of the last few years, an inexperienced and green leader with short-term vision could be really bad news for Madagascar’s long-term prospects.

In the meantime I sit here hoping beyond hope that when election-time comes I will be settled in the Northern provinces tending my vegetables and caring for the children and not still here in the capital, negotiating with ministries ripe for restructuring and trying to avoid the turbulence and violence which often accompanies African elections. However, I must tear my mind from such musings, as it is time for me to pack. Emma, Jill and I are rewarding ourselves for two weeks of hard graft with a weekend away in Antsirabe. So while I leave you all to puzzle over the complicated past of Madagascar’s political process I am off to hunt out my sun hat and pack my sandwiches for the 3 hour bus ride South which will take me on an adventure of markets, lakes and waterfalls and hopefully at least one night’s sleep uninterrupted by the night-time antics of the mice who have taken up residence under my floorboards.