Madagascar
Malagasy governors boycott peace deal

afrol News, 26 April - If the recount of the nullified December presidential elections shows that candidate Marc Ravalomanana actually won the poll, five Malagasy governors will not accept the results, they have informed. The governors - followers of President Didier Ratsiraka - thus reject the keystone of the conflict resolution defined in the Dakar agreement between Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka last week.

Under the 18 April Dakar agreement, Ravalomanana was to retract his declaration that he was president, which he has done. Further, both he and President Ratsiraka were to respect the free movement of goods and people throughout the country, meaning Ratsiraka's followers should lift the blockade of the Malagasy capital, Antananarivo, where Ravalomanana and his rival government are based. This has not been done, as the five governors who are President Ratsiraka's main supporters demand the dismantling of Ravalomanana's government before removing the roadblocks. 

While the conflict over the Antananarivo roadblocks seemed a temporary problem, the new move by Ratsiraka's partisan governors signifies a direct blow to the Dakar agreement, if they represent Ratsiraka's view. The President has however remained silent on the issue.

The Malagasy High Constitutional Court (HCC) has nullified the disputed counting of the December, ordering a recount which has been instigated. According to the Dakar agreement, which foresees the HCC's recount, Ratsiraka is to handle over the presidency to Ravalomanana if the latter shows up to have won the elections outright. If none of the two gained over 50 percent of the votes, Ratsiraka will remain President, while Ravalomanana is to be named President of the new Superior Transitional Council, the second office in state hierarchy. Together, the will name a transitional government for no more than six months, when the Malagasy people is to elect one of them in a referendum. 

A spokesman of the five regional governors loyal to Ratsiraka today told the French news agency AFP that they would not respect the outcome the HCC's recount if the courts declared that Ravalomanana had won. In that case, the "conflict" would resume, Senator Annick Daahy told AFP. "We reject in advance its ballot recount because ... it is taking place without the presence of Ratsiraka's representatives," Daahy said. 

On the positive side, both Ratsiraka and Ravalomanana earlier this ordered their followers to stop the violence. The two men, which at first had been reluctant to meat, were observed embracing each other after signing the Dakar agreement in an act that gave the impression they had reached personal reconciliation. Both seemed to fear to go down in Malagasy history as responsible for an envisaged civil war. Their radicalised followers, including the five governors, now seem to be more partisan than the two candidates themselves.

Meanwhile, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, who persuaded the two rivals to meet in Dakar, has taken steps to continue the pressure for a peaceful solution in Madagascar. Wade has demanded that Zambian President, Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, who is also the actual leader of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), engage directly in the situation. OAU Secretary-General, Amara Essy, also urges the "peace facilitators" (the Presidents of Senegal, Benin, Gabon and Mozambique) to engage directly in the application of the Dakar agreement. 

In Antananarivo, which still is besieged and without food and energy supply, Ravalomanana's followers meanwhile are appealing to the international community for help. A newly established Foundation for the Reconstruction of Madagascar (FAR) is appealing for international aid for the financing of an airlift between abroad and the Malagasy capital. "The transport of fuel by air is a 'smart' solution to thwart the iniquitous blockade manned by the Admiral Ratsiraka," according to a FAR communiqué. "Resolving the fuel shortage will allow the relief of the Malagasy economy." 

Sources: Based on FAR, press reports, Dakar agreement and afrol archives 

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