Political crisis: The civil society’s mediation attempt stranded

Undermined by internal quarrels, the civil society could hardly build on its mediation project aimed at solving the Malagasy crisis. The group which organized the meeting in the hotel La Residence Ankerana has, some time after the initiative, had to swallow waves of bitter critiques from other members of the civil society.  

Directed by Lalao Andriamampionona, wife of a public Works former minister during the Marc Ravalomanana era, the group of Ankerana has been wrongly suspected of partiality. The mediation project has, thus, been vilified by some members of the civil society as well as by some influential members of the High Authority of Transition. 

The basic idea was the organization of another meeting of the four political mobility leaders, this time around though, on the Malagasy territory. This new “summit” between Marc Ravalomanana, Andry Rajoelina, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy, could have become, according to the civil society, the next launching pad for the Maputo process. 

Without the armed forces’ support, the organization of such a meeting is definitely impossible to the civil society. The security of two former presidents, supposed to return from exile on home soil, will have to be insured.  

The Group of Ankerana expected to find a political consensual solution from the mobility chiefs before the international mediators’ meeting meant to be held in Antananarivo on the 6th of October.      

So far, the army’s joint chief of staff, colonel André Ndriarijaona, has received no letter from the civil society asking for his cooperation, according to his own say. If the job has not yet been done one week to the international mediators’ meeting, on can legitimately believe that it has been dropped. 

The civil society was yet standing by the army to solve the Malagasy crisis, as it did in 1991. At that time, the militaries “forced” the protagonists to conclude an agreement. The outcome was, then, the Panorama hotel Convention which paved the Transition’s way toward the Third Republic. 

The group of Ankerana has, therefore, referred to the year1991’s scheme; the difference, this time around, is that militaries were themselves, fully involved in the crisis. Andry Rajoelina and his team actually owe their successful grip on power way back on March 17th to a mutiny. And the decision making positions within the armed forces are currently controlled by those former rebels