Outlook on the electoral campaign’s billions of Ariary at the disposal of the transitional leadership’s champion

Candidate Hery Rajaonarimampianina seems to be entitled to no less than unlimited financial means. It does not take a crystal bowl to realize where all of this cash flow stems from. The presidential candidate basically supposed to have recieved such favors in his stead launched first the offensive against his rival: “over the latest days, the former finance minister spends out billions over billions. Where was then all this money earlier? Why did the population have no taste of it at all?” Yes it is, a sparsely masked face to face accusation of embezzlement of state assets against the transitional leadership’s favorite from his unfortunate same side rival Edgard Razafindravahy.

After due consideration, candidate Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s motto “new strength for Madagascar” may be held as muscle flexing haka, bearing in mind that this muscle is merely made of money and little more substance. The former transitional finance minister may well stand by the new big fortunes of the transition. He even did what it takes to snatch some financial backers away from the transitional prime minister Camille Vital, to avail. As an evidence that equality of chances in this fight for money is a mere fading away dream, a candidate got deprived of his party’s support, money and of some of his personal financial supporters by his same party co runner up.

One week away to the tournament, candidate Camille Vital has some 350 four wheel drive cars still stranded at Toamasina city harbor. “This is a contribution from foreign friends. The vehicles will be used during the electoral campaign, then, a certain number of them will be offered to the security forces” declared Camille Vital about them. The cars are, for the time being, nowhere near to complete any of the aforesaid purposes. As well, the HIARAKA ISIKA party’s candidate has some 90 000 T-shirts retained by the custom services at the airport in Ivato. “Our T-shirts, like all the others’ ones are manufactured and delivered by the same provider. Why on earth do the customs especially retain ours?” wondered Camille Vital.

The dagger which served in such a stab in Camille Vital’s back would belong to none but his same side co runner and transitional former finance minister, the single one in the position to grease the customs’ palm that effectively. The SAMIFIN, the local finance intelligence services mainly in charge of fighting money laundering, conceded that it got prompted to investigate this cargo’s whereabouts, yet emphatically declined any responsibility into interfering in any way with the delivery process.

“Considering its banking capacity, the importing company is financially not able to pay the due custom taxes, let alone purchase these vehicles” declared the head of the SAMIFIN services. Each HYUNDAY SANTA FE type vehicle would amount to some US$ 7 700. “I have no ground at all to bully the former prime minister. As a matter of fact, they cannot pay the due taxes on the concerned cargo” added Jean Claude Razaranaina when listing a handful of minor financial frauds. Time is getting scarce anyway. The electoral campaign ends within the next few days.

Only a first round victory and an access to the second turn playoffs would ever rescue candidate Camille Vital’s investment. Yet he is in no way the only one stuck down in the same situation…in the very same department. The transitional former foreign office minister Pierrot Rajaonarivelo, the transitional former vice prime minister in charge of the decentralization department Hajo Andrianainarivelo and the transitional former healthcare minister Alain Tehindrazanarivelo have, just like Camille Vital, been unfortunate when dealing with the custom services.

First names being a comfortable mnemonic in the run of electoral campaigns, does candidate Hery really get a hand to bring his most feared rivals down, namely Camille, Hajo and Pierrot? Various other billionaires with lesser contribution to and from the transition remain in the race though. Edgard, the SDP of Antananarivo city, rebuked by Andry and by the largest part of his TGV party just as Camille was, keeps on fighting on his own. So does the former CST member Sylvain (Rabetsaroana), rejected by Norbert Lala, the transitional leadership’s mastermind, and by his AVI party. He too does not lack financial power.