The army puts pressure on Rajoelina

On Saturday morning, the Beriziky government held a cabinet meeting.  The reshuffle of the CENI was on schedule. Although the exiled president´s return has not been addressed, the decision not to arrest Ravalomanana was not taken either.

In the end, the armed forces´ top command was the one to decide, and General Richard Ravalomanana, in charge of the legalized repression of the political opposition, the henchman. The commander of the Emmo Reg squad emphasized his intention to proceed to the arrest despite the Defence Minister´s statement previously confirming that police forces would merely maintain public order.

On the day before, Rajoelina handed over the flag to 40 promoted general and asked them to do their duty in face of threats against the established order. In the end, he was the one unable to skirt around his duty any further, and violated the roadmap by issuing a ban.

The army´s highest ranking officer swore allegiance by promising to defend the regime against any trouble. Soldiers´ presence in Ivato could hardly be overlooked. They were not prepared to proceed to arrest President Ravalomanana the way they were trained to a few days earlier.

Brigadier General Ranto Rabarisoa clearly displayed in his statement his opposition to any of Marc Ravalomanana´s potential comeback: “If Didier Ratsiraka produced that show when coming back, the other one will do far more.”

In this confrontation between Ravalomanana and the HAT, the army suffered the casualty. The HAT supportive army command put pressure on Rajoelina so that he blocks President Ravalomanana´s return whatever it takes. The hell with the roadmap which anyway never suited the army! Deterrence proved to have fallen through.

Another Rajoelina supportive general openly opposed to  Ravalomanana went even further on a television channel: “ 80% of the army is up against the exiled president; Does Marc Ravalomanana not hold his life dear? Not a single diplomat will ever risk his life for Marc Ravalomanana …”, the stand was clear.

The Rajoelina supportive armed forces´ top command is keeping the shade of fear ablaze in their supreme leader and advising him not to rely that much on the politicians and advisors around him. It makes it clear, that no political solution would match the army´s support in order to remain on top. Most of the power supposed to belong to the elected mayor of Antananarivo is apparently actually in the armed forces´ top command´s hands.

The exiled president´s pending comeback is being considered a putsch against putsch makers who agreed on power sharing. Under the influence of the military lobbying indeed, Andry Rajoelina talked about a dangerous wind about to blow over the people.
The strategy would consist in taking the army to the front line as the sworn enemy of Marc Ravalomanana. The arrest warrant issued as the outcome of an openly politically motivated trial conducted by an illegal court happens to be but the cover up.

The single ever inclusive national unity transition in Madagascar was signed between Rajoelina and the armed forces´ top command. It conquered power for him, now there´s change to give back. The priority? Maintaining Andry Rajoelina on top as long as the generals remain on top of the army with the power, which no elected president would ever grant them