UNITED
NATIONS, May
14 -- There
was a time
that
Madagascar was
important to
the UN, at
least enough
so to be
included in
the so-called
horizon
briefings by
the UN
Secretariat to
the Security
Council.
But
these days,
amid growing
controversy in
and about
Madagascar,
the UN
has little to
say, and says
it late. At
the noon
briefing on
May 13,
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky:
Inner
City Press: On
the Madagascar
question, is,
is, there has
been since
I last asked
this, the SADC
(Southern
African
Development
Community)
has come out
and said that
three
candidates,
they are
encouragedto
withdraw their
candidacies,
saying they
are not
consistent
with the
road map. This
is Mr. [Andry]
Rajoelina,
also Lalao
Ravalomanana
and
another
candidate. And
so, one, I
wanted to know
if there is a
UN
response to
that, but two,
since Ms.
Ravalomanana
is being
barred for
having been
out of the
country, and
this was a
forced exile
by the
Government, I
am wondering
whether the UN
has any view
on forced
exile, that
being used as
a basis to bar
a candidate
from running.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
We can check
for you on
that, Matthew.
I don’t have
anything right
now.
This
exchange took
place at
Monday's noon
briefing (video
here, from
Minute 22:15),
and three
hours later
Inner City
Press was
again told
that it was
being looked
into. And
perhaps there
is already an
answer. But
none has yet
been provided
to
Inner City
Press, as of
Tuesday
morning.
And
so we'll
report: the
third
candidate
mentioned is
Didier
Ratsiraka. For
Rajoelina, the
criticism is
that he filed
his candidacy
papers
after the 28
April deadline
but was
nevertheless
approved by
the
Special
Electoral
Court (CES).
He also broke
the pledge he
made in
January 2013
to not be a
candidate.
For
Lalao
Ravalomanana,
who filed her
candidacy
papers on
April 25, the
UN told Inner
City Press on
April 29, “It
is up to the
Special
Electoral
Court, which
is in charge
of receiving
electoral
disputes
and
proclaiming
the final
results of the
presidential
and
legislative
elections, to
decide on the
validity and
qualifications
of all
prospective
candidates”.
Similarly,
SADC mediator
Joaquim
Chissano
said
on May 2 that
Lalao
Ravalomanana’s
candidature
“is a matter
to be seen by
the Special
Electoral
Court."
But
after the CES
decided on May
3 that Lalao
Ravalomanana
is officially
a candidate,
France
announced on
May 6 its “deception”
on
learning that
the CES
accepted Lalao
Ravalomanana’s
candidature.
A
little canned
history: in
Madagascar,
France has a
long history
of
using forced
exile as a
political tool
for
maintaining
control over
the island
nation. In
1897 it exiled
Madagascar’s
last queen who
died in
Algeria in
1917 having
never been
allowed to
return to her
country. After
the 1947
uprising
against French
rule, France
exiled
the three
Malagasy
political
leaders that
France said
were
responsible.
When one tried
to return to
Madagascar in
1959, France
prevented him
from
returning.
In
the current
crisis, after
Marc
Ravalomanana
was overthrown
in Rajoelina’s
2009 coup,
France has
admitted
trying to find
a country to
accept
Ravalomanana
in exile. In
January 2013
France
publicly
voiced its
opposition to
allowing
Marc
Ravalomanana
to return from
forced exile
before
elections.)
In
its May 10 communiqué,
SADC
“expressed
grave concern
on the
decision of
the Special
Electoral
Court to
endorse
illegitimate
candidatures
for the
forthcoming
Presidential
elections in
violation
of the
Malagasy
Constitution
and the
Electoral
Law.”
The
CES defended
its decision
to accept the
legitimacy of
Lalao
Ravalomanana’s
candidature by
saying that
her absence
from
Madagascar
resulted from
circumstances
and events
independent of
her
will that
prevented her
from enjoying
her right to
return to her
country,
despite
repeated
expression of
her desire to
return.
In
fact, Lalao
Ravalomanana
returned to
her country on
July 27, 2012,
but was promptly
kicked out of
the country by
armed security
forces.
The
SADC roadmap
requires that
all political
exiles be
allowed “to
return to the
country
unconditionally”.
The Universal
Declaration
of Human
Rights
includes the
right to
return to
one’s country
as a
basic human
right. So to
maintain, as
France and
SADC do, that
Mrs.
Ravalomanana’s
candidacy is
not legitimate
is to condone
forced
exile as a
means for
preventing
someone from
taking part in
the
political life
of their
nation.
And
so, again:
What is the
UN’s position
regarding Mrs.
Ravalomanana’s
forced exile
in July 2012?
Does the UN
consider
forced exile
to be a
legitimate
reason for
barring a
person from
being a
candidate for
election in
his or her
country?
Watch
this site.
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