In the Press: Election and integrity issues

Anti-corruption fight here, integrity there. As Madagascar Tribune announces, there exists a certain “promising unanimity within the top echelon of the administration, concerning the fight against corruption.” However, Tribune also warns us to keep a watchful eye on progress; it insists that the fight must be real and tangible, and that it must not remain as just another slogan, as it did following the 1972, and the 1991 crises. This daily publication reminds us that, back then, the same kind of yearning for moral renewal also existed. But it turned out to be nothing but a mere flash in the pan because corruption, and evil quickly won out. “Would the situation be the same, this time around?” wonders Tribune, as it tries to hammer in the message that we need actions because “good intentions are no longer enough”.

As for Express Madagascar, and Midi Madagascar, election issues dominate. They reintroduce an interview with Marson Evariste, an RPSD official, and a special counsel to the President, covering the need to organize a national conference, and a constitutional referendum before the legislative elections eventually take place.

Midi Madagascar claims that “the RPSD president does not seem to really approve of the rush. Before the elections take place, he prefers to organize a national conference in which all of the nation’s political forces will meet. This conference will generate a new Constitution which will more closely reflect the current aspirations of the population.” Midi also underlines the fact that such a consultation requires a modicum of equanimity, and should take place in a relatively peaceful atmosphere. This does not seem to be the case, at this time, with militia men still roaming the countryside.

Translated by J. F. Razanamiadana