Saturday, June 13, 2009

Madagascar: More delays in political negotiation in Madagascar

FOCUS Information Agency - The political negotiations aimed at finding a way out of the current political crisis in Madagascar was suspended again on Friday following the withdraw of the High Transitional Authority (HTA) led by former Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina, Xinhua News Agency informs.

The HTA has been under pressure of international mediators to compromise on the demands of former presidents Marc Ravalomanana and Didier Ratsiraka.

Ravalomanana's representatives insisted on the return of their leader, who fled out of the island country March following the takeover of his presidency by Rajoelina while Ratsiraka asked for amnesty for all of his followers, who have been living in exile in France since 2002.

Representatives of both former presidents said that they could not sign any agreement before their demands were met while the transitional authority declared that it would not make any further compromise.

The international mediators, including special envoys from the United Nations, the African Union, the Southern African Development Community and the International Organization of French-speaking Countries rushed here February soon after the kickoff of the crisis and tried to find a peaceful solution.

They have failed to convince the Madagascan stakeholders, including the HTA president Andry Rajoelina and former presidents Marc Ravalomanana, Didier Ratsiraka and Zafy Albert to compromise and reach an agreement on the settlement of the prolonged political crisis.

According to a private radio, Rajoelina's representative Ny Hasina Andriamanjato, also foreign minister under the transitional government, totally rejected the amnesty request by Ratsiraka and the return of Ravalomanana.

With the suspension of the dialogue, signing of the agreement, prepared by the international mediators, is impossible before the fall of the national day on June 26.
Published by Mike Hitchen, Mike Hitchen Consulting
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