The two are self-made millionaires, former mayors of Antananarivo, and power grabbers. Ravalomanana was barely 10 years old at independence in 1960 and therefore has little colonial baggage.
A former French colony located roughly 390 kilometres east of Mozambique, Madagascar is the fourth largest island on earth.
Its people, the Malagasy, are a mixture of Africans and Malayo-Polynesians and have some of the longest names in the world.
They are divided between the Merina group, the “fotsy” or white, of Asiatic background, and the Cotiers, the “mainty” or blacks, of African ancestry.
Anti-colonial activities intensified the Merina/Cotier divide, especially with the formation of rival political parties after 1956.
Political disputes
These were Social Democratic Party (PSD), which favoured close ties with France, and the Congress Party of the Independence of Madagascar, which favoured the Soviet Union and “Malagachisation” of everything.
In the 1959 election, the PSD led by a Cotier teacher, Philbert Tsiranana, defeated AFKM’s Antananarivo mayor Richard Andriamanjato, a Merina protestant pastor. Tsiranana became the first president on June 26, 1960.
From 1960 to 2010, development in Madagascar falls into two generational segments, characterised by brutal change of governments through cycles of “mass action.”
First were professionals who had experienced colonialism and dominated politics until 2002 and included Tsirinana, Didier Ratsiraka, and Albert Zafy.
Second, was the postcolonial generation of young businessmen, Ravolomanana and Rajoelina, who, using catchy slogans, grabbed power.
Common to both groups was the use of “mass action,” in times of deteriorating economic conditions or political disputes, to change governments.
As part of mass action, vigilante groups, like Tanora Tonga Saina, which means “unemployed youth aware of their responsibility,” and the the Merina martial arts movement Kung Fu paying homage to Merina royal rituals, rise up or regroup. As the gangs fought and created further instability, the military intervened or threatened to intervene.
In the midst of such crisis, new leaders would be installed, and then more “mass action.”
The cycle of “mass action” started in 1972 when Tsiranana was forced out of office. As president, he was subservient to France and failed to deliver even as he increased his autocracy.
In reaction to protests agisnt his rule, he banished protest leaders to the island of Nosy Lava, which is equivalent to Kenya’s Manda Island in Mau Mau days.
Among the first to be sent was Monja Joana, a Cotier who had created the National Movement for the Independence of Madagascar (Monima), in April 1971 and led peasant rebels to attack security installations in Toliara Province.
Student leaders were not spared either after protesting French control of education in Madagascar.
When the urban poor joined the anti-French protest and burned halls and offices of French newspapers, the protest spread to rural areas.
Tsiranana then declared a state of emergency, dissolved parliament, and surrendered power to the military on May 18, 1972.
Within three years of Tsirinana’s ouster, there was an attempted coup, an assassination, and an installation of a military strong man. The attempted coup was in December 1974 after which Gen Gabriel Ramantsoa handed power to Col Richard Ratsiramandrava on February 5, 1975.
Five days later, the colonel was assassinated. The National Military Directorate declared martial law and on June 15, 1975 gave power to Lt Commander Didier Ratsiraka, a Cotier, as a consensus man.
Cycle of failure
On assuming power, Ratsiraka tried to create a Marxist one party state under the Supreme Revolutionary Council.
He used fokonolona or traditional councils, to rule and discourage dissent. He issued a Red Book outlining “five pillars of the revolution” as being the RSC, peasants and worker, young intellectuals, women, the Popular Armed Forces.
He denounced the “slavery agreements,” launched “economic decolonisation” by nationalising industries and closing foreign institutions like the American NASA satellite station.
Within three years, however, Ratsiraka’a Marxism failed to deliver, thereby forcing him to tone down anti-imperialist rhetoric and to switch to the West.
Even with the shift, he could not stop the internal mass action in part because of Merina perception of unfairness when Ratsiraka tried affirmative action for Cotiers.
This was in addition to rising unemployment, shortages of basic commodities, and increased authoritarianism.
He seemingly started TTS to harass Merina political opponents who responded with their Kung Fu gang. The government banned Kung Fu in September 1984, leading to widespread riots which made him vulnerable.
The demands for reforms and end to one party rule intensified and forced him out of office in 1991. Multipartyism was restored in March 1990 and critics formed an alliance, Force Vives Rasalama, led by Zafy.
They organised strikes and protests that lasted for months and despite Ratsiraka announcing a state of emergency, protesters continued to demand his resignation.
The situation deteriorated after the presidential guards killed over 100 protesters on August 10, 1991.
As a result, Ratsiraka agreed to the Panorama Convention, which established a transitional government.
He then resigned in October 1991 and became the second president to be forced out of office by the mob.
The next president was Zafy who was elected in 1991 but had a rough time surviving in the midst of riots and protests.
What was worse, there were feuds involving the new president, prime minister and chairperson of the National Assembly.
When Zafy organised a referendum in 1995 empowering the president to appoint the prime minister, instead of parliament, his action angered legislators who impeached him in July 1996 for abuse of constitutional powers.
With the Supreme Court upholding the impeachment in September 1996, Zafy became the third president to be removed unceremoniously.
Ratsiraka bounced back to the presidency in February 1997 after narrowly defeating Zafy in the 1996 election, only to be chased away a second time.
His second administration was actually a preparation for the post-colonial generation represented by Ravalomanana, the mayor of Antananarivo.
Ravalomanana was a Merina who made millions making and selling vanilla across Madagascar and used his vast resources to appeal to disgruntled voters, initially irrespective of race and class.
The results of the election were inconclusive but Ravalomanana would not hear of a second round.
With the support of Kung Fu, Ravalomanana declared himself president in February 2002 and fighting broke out along the Merina/Cotier divide.
Two governments emerged, one at Antananarivo and the other at Tamatave. Talks of a possible coup forced a recount in which the court declared Ravalomanana the winner in May 2002 and Ratsiraka then disappeared to France in July 2002.
Ironically, Ravolomanana lost the presidency in 2009 to another power-grabbing mayor of Antananarivo. Initially, Ravolomanana appeared to do well, attracting foreign aid and debt cancellations.
The benefits, however, did not trickle down fast enough for poor Malagasy. Although he had easily won the December 2006 election, disaster was in the offing as cyclones destroyed crops and left thousands homeless.
Food shortages became widespread and allegations of corruption increased. His ultimate undoing was his desire to control the media thereby colliding with Rajoelina.
Other than being good at advertising and having established a radio station, Viva Radio, Rajoelina was also a postcolonial self-made millionaire with political ambitions.
Rajoelina, nicknamed TVG, (Troup Gun’s Val) or Tanora Malagasy Vonona meaning a “determined Malagasy youth,” was elected new mayor of Antananarivo in December 2007 and by March 2009, he was president.
Playing politics
After Ravalomanana closed the Viva TV and Radio stations to stop the airing of an interview of former presidents Ratsiraka and dismissing Rajoelina as the mayor of Antananarivo, Rajoelina mobilised people for “mass action” and declared himself president, just as Ravalomanana had done in 2002.
The military intervened in March 2009 and enabled Rajoelina to establish High Transitional Authority.
Ravalomanana became the fourth president to be ousted through mass action.
Rajoelina’s coup was roundly condemned, recognised only by Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, but the DJ has survived more than a year and is still in power to date.
He is not worried by local Kung Fu threats or the AU-imposed sanctions on Madagascar, which are seemingly ignored by the “international community.”
It is only threats from the military that propels him to talk. He is politically astute enough to know what to say when and surprise his opponents.
Madagascar, in 50 years has had two turbulent periods in which governments were forced out.
First, was the independence generation that ushered Madagascar and dominated politics to up to 2002. Second was the postcolonial generation of a vanilla salesman and a DJ, Ravolomanana and Rajoelina.
While the political feud between the two is part of national turbulence, it is also a sign of cultural change as the Merina/Cotier divide declines.
Source: Allafrica