Monday, April 27, 2009

Madagascar Constitutional Court Stormed

By: Val Palac
Today, the court in Madagascar was raided. Heavily-armed forces stormed the building in order to round up remnants of those who were remaining loyal to the former president Marc Ravalomanana. Military forces removed Ravalomanana from office in March after the young Andry Rajoelina won military backing and came to power with energy and confidence.
Lately, there have been protests within the past few weeks by supporters of Ravalomanana demanding the courts to reverse their decision to recognize Rajoelina. Today, many of the same military cars used to bring Rajoelina to power were used to raid the court and arrest its head of security. After the raid, journalists were allowed in and shown weapons. Many are saying this was not only a plan to round up supporters of the former president but to intimidate the judiciary.
One article from the AFP, quoted an anonymous source saying it is not the military inflicting terror upon protestors but the militia men associated with High Transition Authority (HAT) which is an interim administration formed by Andry Rajoelina. The men rounded up in today's raid were suspected of trying to dismantle HAT.
Marc Ravalomanana was never able to fully gain the military's support which is supposed to remain neutral. One question to ask is whether it is the military supporting and following Rajoelina's lead, or is it Rajoelina's HAT in control of the military? Also, Ravalomanana has said he will return after he was exiled in March. Will he?

No comments: