Andry Rajoelina: an anti democrat lurking behind folk phrases

The HAT leader has made the ” Teny ifampierana “, the outcome of a top level consultation automatically agreed by the rest of the population, his argument. In the present case, the Malagasy traditional equivalent of the ancient Germanic “Thing” is being misused as an exacerbated popular storm blowing every common sense principles and every political reality away. The dictating authorities simply want to enforce a lie masked by shadows of national unity based on the presence of the country’s national political panel’s representatives
As definitely refusing to be true to its word pledged by its signature of the consensual and inclusive Transition’s Maputo Charter and agreements, the Rajoelina mobility is straining to sign as much allies countrywide up as possible. Done deal! People swarmed all over the Conference Hall of Ivato, only few seats remained empty. There was the re-enactment of the past ages’ public gatherings: the “population” was gathered and addressed the community’s issues and future, without the odd ones, more eager to remain cast away from the society and from its management, according to the HAT theory.

The concept is actually quite Malagasy, but, somehow, no more suited to these days. Do let it be explained again: this traditional assembly used to be a gathering of the “whole community”. Did twenty millions inhabitants express their voices on that day? The HAT invited some 1800 people supposed to be representing the “population”, though they are actually merely representing insignificant political parties for a great majority. “You are the people’s voice”, as they were being “knighted” by his Highness Andry Rajoelina, still in the run of his blunt democracy vision. The process still has a long way ahead to match the popular consultation invoked by Andry Rajoelina in Maputo in anything. By then the young TGV invited his partisans into the presidential palace’s football pitch! The meeting held in Ivato would be based on the dialogue. Involving 20 million people would obviously be utopia, but on the other hand, is it even any closer to realism to expect any shadow of common ground from 1800 rival politicians, when an assembly of mere hundred ones can hardly ever do so, in spite of being democratically elected?

The constitution of this patch worked national parliament is simply controversial. The HAT invited 212 parties and dozens of political associations in order to sink the mobilities defined by the international mediation in oblivion. “Today, there is no more powerful and weak parties, no more big and small gun… everybody agrees all at a time”, he stated. Andry Rajoelina conceded, however, that the problem was political, and requiring a solution of the same nature with good basis. “Neither only four individuals (the four mobility leaders) nor a single one of them (his Highness!) but all of us (some 1800 unelected figures with no name) are entitled to make decisions”, argued the HAT leader.

In order to drown the absent political mobilities in a crushing wave of majority, the HAT invited members of the civil society devoted to his motto officially named “change”. Already the regional representatives’ passionate speeches were causes for doubts about the assemblies’ so pretended neutrality. Andry Rajoelina preferred to underline the union consecrated as it used to be during the past ages, below the shade of a tree. “Either the regions, or the tribes, the parties, or the political mobilities have failed from dividing you “, he told the participants.

Andry Rajoelina is, in the end, making a virtual majority from an assembly of strictly selected representatives, in the run of his quest for legitimacy. “The struggle for Change has not been led by one mobility (Rajoelina) but by the largest number”. He is right, if one assumes that 1800 anonymous people are the largest number. The majority is actually the HAT holy Grail, as well as its greatest weakness. Andry Rajoelina has been elected mayor by the majority of Antananarivo city’s inhabitants, not even by all of them, whereas the three other mobility leaders have been elected by the majority of the whole Malagasy people. In a role of village chief, he simply substitutes his voice to that of the rest of the silenced population through a pledge from a less virtual majority. Blunt democracy is consequently characterized by one fact: the absence of elected representatives. It is simply anti-democratic!