Elections but no national unity, the HAT says no to the ICG

Andry Rajoelina has drawn his good old national sovereignity statement to justify his refusal to comply either with the International Contact Group’s recommendations, or with the international community’s will in general.  “The Malagasy people is the only one entitled to decide who is going to direct the country “, he said. Antananarivo city’s mayor elected in 2007 is certainly not speaking for himself since his rise to power originated from street unrests, and from an army’s fringe led putsch. Andry Rajoelina is refering to to the future transitional government to be shaped up by legislative elections. “The majority will be determining whom will lead the national unity government”, read the logic proposed by the dictating authorities’ leader.  

The HAT response to the ICG is clear: there will be no return to the Maputo and Addis Ababa agreements, let alone to any consensual and inclusive Transition. “After all of the completed negotiations in search of a compromise as for the management of the transition, we realized that cohabitation is difficult “, justified Andry Rajoelina. He has actually felt threatened by the presence of a couple of acting Co Presidents. On this account, he misinterpreted the signed deals, and argued that Fetison Andrianirina and Emmanuel Rakotovahiny were advisors part of the presidential council.  

The lack of accuracy in the Addis Ababa additional act actually granted room for such approximation. The official statement contained the expression “two Co Presidents of the Transition”, the Rajoelina mobility’s newly taboo made concept when it realized, somehow a little too late, that it would have had to share power as a matter of fact. During the mission completed by Jean Ping, President of the African Union’s Commission, in Madagascar in January 2010, both of the Co Presidents’ transitional roles and prerogatives have been accurately defined. It failed to convince the Rajoelina mobility though. The HAT and its allies still have far too much to lose with the reinstatement of Eugene Mangalaza as national unity Prime Minister, let alone with the renewed distribution of ministries between all four mobilities as well as the other involved parties.  

“The election is the only way out of from the crisis”, repeatedly emphasized Andry Rajoelina. “When every attempt to reach consensus in the foundation of a national unity government failed, we have to tackle legislative elections”. Let it be clear that the HAT’s superdeputies will have to address herculean missions: altering the Republic’s Constitution in quality of constituent assembly, naming the majority originated Prime Minister supposed to make his “national unity” government up for the rest of the period of transition.  Any constitutional project could hardly ever be adopted prior to the erection of such a government. And after the presidential election, is the transitional Prime minister going to be retained as the constituent assembly’s parliamentarians are?   

Even though the HAT’s roadmap is proving to be, somehow, roughly drafted, conviction is in there. Andry Rajoelina is attempting to involve all of the nation’s political forces.  “We are no more speaking about mobilities “, he argued as a mean to drop the former presidents in the crowd. In the end, the dictating authorities’ leader is involving the civilian society and whoever he can in order to make his process up with a shadow of inclusivity. “Madagascar is lucky enough to have a young leader not eager to stay in power forever”, boasted Andry Rajoelina. Would it mean that the young leader would not be running the elections as candidate? Would he merely restrict his ambitions with ruling Marc Ravalomanana out of from the race? Andry Rajoelina would, in such case, recover his original mission: bring the elected president down, but not replacing him in the long term.