Madagascar Elections, 2006
Posted Wednesday, December 20, 2006, 4:42 PM by Lonely Planet
Tom Parkinson reports on a lively campaign trail as he researches the Madagascar guide...
Politics in Madagascar is like everything else on this crazy island-continent: colourful, earnest and unique. 2006 was a landmark year with the presidential elections held on December 3, arguably the first genuinely democratic elections in the country's history - a genuine milestone in a region where coups have been more common than parliamentary reshuffles.
This was the first presidental vote since the infamous elections of 2001, when then president Didier Ratsiraka refused to accept defeat and went to violent extremes to try and retain his 26-year hold on power. Rival candidate and current incumbent Marc Ravalomanana eventually won after a six-month struggle, but the memory meant countless travel agencies were advising clients to avoid Christmas visits until the situation was clear.
The peaceful cavalcade of campaigning, known to locals simply as 'la propagande', began two months in advance of the polling date, graduating from simple posters and slogans to vans full of loudspeakers, massive rallies and national tours. The humble T-shirt became a crucial tool, with party-branded shirts being distributed free to the public - cynics pointing out that in poor areas this was essentially as good as buying votes. Music, too, was a key feature, as competing politicians exploited the national obsession by adopting personal theme tunes and recruiting popular singers to attend their events and write campaign songs.
The dominant figure was undeniably Ravalomanana. The multimillionaire owner of the Tiko dairy chain showed his ardent admiration of President Bush in his adoption of serious business suits, frequent Christian rhetoric, and his use of personal resources and the media.
Other tactics, like setting the election date during the rainy season, when many voters would have trouble travelling to the polls, and while the main potential opposition candidate - exiled former deputy prime minister Pierrot Rajaonarivelo - was prevented from entering the country may not have been necessary as while some voters have been disappointed with the lack of improvement in quality of life around the country, most agree that Ravalomanana has been a good and generally sincere president.
At the final count, it appears that Ravalomanana has won a comfortable and predictable victory, with Ratsiraka a distant second, but as it will take another two weeks for countrywide results to be collected, verified and confirmed, Madagascar will be holding its breath for a little while yet...
Labels: Politics
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