Madagascar 's referendum : sould the president stay in power ?

With President Ravalomanana, re-elected for a second mandate up to 2011, Madagascar has been going into globalisation. Multinational corporations including Rio Tinto and Exxon Mobil have arrived, pouring millions of dollars into government coffers. The President seems to have been looking more for its own interest than for those of its country. The internatinal investments, then, didn't improve the situation of the population (70% of the nation's 20 million population still live on incomes of less than $2 (£1.40) a day). The growing resentment reached its peak when the government leased one million acres in the south of the country to the Korean firm Daewoo for intensive farming. This was seen as a betrayal. Growing manifestations were lead, unfortunately ending with violence on both sides. The opposition is lead by Mr Rajoelina, former mayor of the capital, dismissed in february. A part of the army also mutined after it was ordered to them to shoot in the crowd (about 25 death or more), not backing up anyside of the conflict but wanting to bring calm and order. Madagascar population isn't used to such a violence. The opposition is calling for Ravalomanana to resign. A referundum shold held these days. The econoic situatin of Madagascar went even worse since the beginning of the political crisis.





The political struggle in Madagascar is worrying, as the high level of violence in an usual peaceful nation illustrates it. We don't really know Mr Rajoealani's projects. Indeed, for some people, it seems that Rajeolani is following th e same path as Ravalomanana. Another dictator (backed up by "political heavyweights from teh country's past") should replace the actual one ? MAdagascar political instability highlights some wrong choices of past and present history. Indeed, one cause of the hard situation could colonialism and the way in which the country was decolonised. It seems like there is still a kind of neocolonialism link with France, as "former colonial power France has also been trying to use its influence". It also highlights the difference between the "rich" and "poor" countries and globalisation effects. It seems that Madagascar's economic situation didn't really improve despite foreign investments. Globalisation could be seen as weakening economies which are already in a "bad shape". However, it can also be argued that the situation depends on the person who's got power. If Ravalomanana hadn't served his own interest, foreign investents might have helped the population. It is quit difficult to distinguish "rich" and former colonial powers fault from the one of the inhabitants of the country. Both are closely linked and mixed, and often result from "wrong choices" made by politicians. The past can't really be "re-modeled", so it is the present situation that should been handled. The only hope is that not too many people die for that.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7935682.stm