The Madagascar Crisis and Why I'm Not in Madagascar

I'm not writing this from Madagascar instead I'm writing this from Wilmington, Delaware. Why? The reason really comes down to a charismatic, young and good-looking former DJ-ing ex-Mayor and his persistent desire to become president.

Now I'm not saying that the current president, Marc Ravalomanana is without fault. He has done things that are questionable. For example, "there was outcry in the national assembly in September 2000 when he ordered over 100 inhabited houses, deemed too ugly, to be bulldozed in his clean up operation." "Today his sprawling empire TIKO, the largest non foreign owned company in Madagascar, has a monopoly on all dairy and oil products sold on the island." In addition the president recently spent $60 million on a presidential plane when there is widespread unemployment and people make at most a couple dollars a day.

Yet it remains true, that despite some poor decisions that Ravalomanana has made, Madagascar has improved during his presidency. Particularly in the form of ending corruption, particularly in the government , according to a former PeaceCorps volunteer who was serving in Madagascar, "there are posters all over aimed at deterring bribery." Also BBC has a good article in which they interview a Malagasy woman and she explains the different ways in which Ravalomanana has improved the country: 'Fear a Civil War'.

Still I believe, and the majority of Malagasy seem to agree with me, that this revolution is ridiculous, terrible and criminal. Here are a few reasons why:

A) The ex-Mayor, Andry Rajoelina is 34 and is constitutionally too young to become president by 6 years.

B) Most Malagasy did not want this revolt despite what Rajoelina has insisted, see Madagascar Views on Power Struggle and Madagascar: What Went Wrong?. In addition I remember reading an article at the start of this turmoil reporting that the people have repeatedly stated that they might not agree with exactly all of Ravalomanana's decisions, but that they want to work this out democratically with elections.

C) "This is no clash of policies; it is a clash of personalities." Quoted from a recent BBC Article illuminating the difference between the president and the ex-mayor.

D) Presidential elections were set to be held in 2 years. At that time Marc Ravalomanana cannot be legally re-elected because, just like in the US, presidency is limited to a maximum of two, four-year terms.

E) " 'The 7 February tragedy have left many questioning the motives behind leading a crowd of protesters to march on a presidential building guarded by armed soldiers. 'There was only ever going to be two outcomes,' said Solofo, an eyewitness of the day's events. 'Bloodshed or storming the palace.' " This quote pertains to the February 7, 2009 when Rajeolina told a group of (from what I've gathered) over 200 of his protesters to walk towards the presidential palace.

Timeline of the Events in Madagascar: Click here

Ultimately, it is a good thing that PeaceCorps did not end up sending us to Madagascar. The recent events in the country support this decision. In addition civil war is in the air. One cannot expect the president's supporters to simply roll over and let Rajoelina come into power. However even though there is escalating turmoil in Madagascar and our group would have definitely been evacuated within a week, Peace Corps pulls out of Madagascar, if we had boarded that plane, it all does little to ease the disappointment of not volunteering, living in and experiencing Madagascar for over two years.

I had spent months readying myself and learning all about the country and its people. Then with nervous excitement and anticipation I went to Philadelphia for orientation only to learn a few hours after I got there that we would not be leaving the next day for Madagascar. I think Nick, my roommate for when I was in Philadelphia, explains how we all felt in Philly the best. He wrote it all up in a blog post: Click here.

Despite it all, I have officially accepted my re-assignment. I will be heading to Togo in West Africa and I am excited to go. It lies between Ghana and Benin on the coast and I will be in the same program as I would have been in, in Madagascar, Small Enterprise Development. I will explain more about Togo and what exactly I'll be doing that in the next post.

Now I'll leave you with a quote from an article I found on the BBC website. People who are living the crisis now in Madagascar have been sending in their views on the situation there to BBC.

"I would like to highlight here one essential fact: what Rajoelina pretends to say is not what Malagasy people think. Maybe we don't agree with some of Ravalomanana's policies these last two years, but we are still convinced he is the only man able to bring progress both social and economical to Madagascar. He is still the president of the nation, he represents order and authority.

International opinion is misled by lies and manipulation from Rajoelina's allies. A popular referendum would at once discredited his pretended popular legitimacy.

Now I'm afraid this is just the beginning of the chaos in Madagascar again. Rajoelina is just a pawn, once Ravalomanana is evicted, there will be a serious dispute on war treasures and power. What about us?
Leila, Antananarivo " ~ Madagascar views on Power Struggle