Last week the democratic elected leader, Marc Ravalomanana, of Madagascar was overthrown in a coup. The former mayor of the capital city, Andy Rajoelina, took power with the supporter of the army and has since sworn himself in. Ravalomanana is now in South Africa. I am still trying to figure out what’s behind all of this.
Whatever people think of the ousted Ravalomanana’s dealings, this is a coup.
And what’s with all the references to the coup leader and new “President” Andy Rajoelina’s boyish looks (he is 34 years old) and background as a DJ? Questions, I have are what’s the class politics of this? [Both Ravalomanana and Rajoelina are members of the country's wealthy elite] Where does France figure in all of this? etcetera.
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While none of us holds the truth, please bear with me as I attempt to convey my perception of how and why Madagascar is once again experiencing such dramatic growing pains.
To be quite blunt, a majority of Malagasies, myself included, had put high hopes in the Ravalomanana presidency. His charisma, will to succeed, and new style of politics was a breath of fresh air, in a country dominated by political dinosaurs whom, despite decades of failure, clung to power like clams on a rock.
What then happened to change this? Well, true enough, in his bid to consolidate power and effect what a lot of us perceived as change, President Ravalomanana systematically eliminated the old guard, either through fiscal or judicial persecution, or again, by enrollment into the new dominant party’s “system”.
While some of the methods were questionable, they were effective in neutralizing the worst of the lot. Unfortunately, this did not stop there, prominent local businessmen were also targeted in a bid for total economic dominance by the President’s business group.
I would submit that while we were all happy and rather proud to have an independently rich man leading us, none of us could ignore his ever growing appetite… In fact, independent sources have estimated that in the seven years he was at the helm of the country, Ravalomanana went from being the 34th to the 4th richest man in Africa!
This is were it all begins to unfurl! In the meantime, poverty remains extremely high, and even higher in urban areas, creating tensions that were unfortunately misjudged. This may be explained by another key factor. President Ravalomanana’s management style, which can readily be described as “management by fear”, was the root of his undoing. Indeed, none of his entourage was able, or willing to question some of the more blatant wrong decisions. Even the international community, through its local representations, were extremely shy in pointing out dysfunctions, while they discussed them openly in private.
The net result is that Ravalomanana fell for the most basic traps that await the powerful; increasing isolation and loss of touch with the realities.
How does young Rajoelina fit into this? This is where things become even more complex.
Himself a young and very successful businessman, Mr. Rajoelina became in the early 2000, a sort of model for young Malagasies, thirsting for real opportunities that were all but unattainable to the vast majority for various reasons that would be too long to entertain here.
Let’s just say, education, economic and social opportunities are reserved to very few up until today.
To make a long story short, Rajoelina, who does NOT come from a particularly “rich” background, hit the jackpot when he decided to move into what was then an unnoticed niche; roadside advertising.
He invested his gains, not in new shiny cars, but in more performant machines. Meanwhile, his competitors, present in the field for decades, merely rode along using the same old machines and methods. Soon enough, he dominated the niche and became rich and successful.
Mind you, at no time during those days, did he think “politics”. He was busy building his business, and being the young adult that he was.
Some people have the knack for business, and he had it from a very young age. While we were busy partying, he was getting paid as the DJ during the parties…(funny how the international press repeatedly mentions this with a clear touch of irony, as if this were a defining paradigm of the man)
Anyhow, around 20005-2006, the then President’s family (his daughter), decided that the roadside advertising business was interesting enough to go into (the rumor mill even says that she and the young man were once an item.. I don’t know).
Thus started Rajoelina’s woes.
His huge road signs were suddenly judged to be “irregular”, and were in some locations uprooted with little care or procedure.
What made this move so blatantly unfair, is that these panels were almost immediately replaced with those of the big guy’s daughter’s company!
I would submit that when you undermine one’s means of making a living, problems are bound to happen. Of course, at the time, everyone thought (silently): “poor guy, another one is being targeted and will soon fall back into anonymity”.
However, Rajoelina turned out to be a fighter; probably with the coaxing/coaching of other frustrated businessmen/politicians, and, dare I say, France?
As the pressure kept mounting, he did the only thing he could do to survive, fight back. How? By challenging the ultra dominant Presidential party during 2007 municipal elections.
On the surface, we’re talking David and Goliath here…
Candidate in the Capital Antananarivo, he managed to soundly rout the Presidential candidate, earning 63% of votes, something unthinkable.
Indeed, the presidential Party, was by then accustomed to winning 90% seats in ANY elections…
Needless to say, and for some odd reason, the President was extremely furious and soon showed it by giving instructions to the government to relentlessly pursue the new Mayor and isolate the entire Commune of Antananarivo.
I will give you only a few examples to illustrate this:
- Commune must immediately repay all debts to the central government, even those contracted in the 1980′s!!! Of course, all receipts are thus withheld from the Commune. Of course, the Central Government does NOT have to pay its debts to the commune (the President’s media empire even leased a Commune owned property in a sweetheart deal i.e. less than 50 cents a square meter per month!!!)
- In view of the African Union Summit to be held in Madagascar, two small and feeble suburban communes were suddenly merged to constitute a new “urban” commune of Ivato. This was done in order to deny the Capital and its young Mayor the honor and publicity of hosting the 54 African Heads of States.
- Of course, since income was withheld from the commune, problems started cropping up (trash removal for example). The official motive for removing the Mayor and replacing him with a man from the “team” was “failure to deal with trash removal”.
You are right,perhaps the persistent persecution of the Mayor had to do with his “links” to other politicians and France. That would indeed explain the relentless attacks.
But what it mostly did, was to rally a very large number of persons behind the mayor. All of a sudden, there was a person willing to speak out against the presidential dysfunctions and other issues. On top of this, the opposition, which had been effectively museled by the regime, had found a viable horse to ride on.
This is what I perceived happened in Madagascar. I may be off the mark on a number of issues, but am adamant that, as usual, our President was a victim of his own demons.
I remember how Mugabe was seen as a quasi savior in Africa during the early 80′s…
Somehow,things have a way of turning sour in our countries. How do we stop this trend and ensure sustainable growth for everyone?
Yes, foreign powers often intervene not with our best interest in mind. But beware of our propensity to blame others for our situation.
Madagascar will be utterly alone in the coming months, and we will assume our responsibilities.
We need to unite urgently, because this should not be about us, but about our grand children.
Let’s get over it and act. “ORGANISE instead of AGONISE!!”