Madagascar: EU scorns March polls

  1. Posted on Wednesday 17 February 2010 - 15:00
    Sanday
    Image of Sanday
    Sanday Chongo Kabange, AfricaNews reporter in Lusaka, Zambia
    The European Parliament has adopted a resolution in which it has warned that the European Union will not support the legislative elections Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina has unilaterally planned for March. In a resolution, it reiterated its condemnation of the way Rajoelina seized power.
    Andry Rajoelina
    The resolution said seizing power with the army’s support is a blatant violation of the provisions of the Malagasy constitution.

    According to the European Parliament, this power grab constitutes, without the slightest doubt, a coup d'etat.

    The resolution condemned Rajoelina's decision to cancel the appointment of Eugene Mangalaza as Prime Minister-designate as per the terms of a power sharing agreement between all the political parties in October 2009.

    Besides, the European parliamentarians accused Rajoelina of boycotting the third in a series of negotiations last December in Maputo, Mozambique, where agreements leading to the restoration of constitutional order were signed.

    The Pan African News Agency reported that, the European parliamentarians condemned "the crackdown on the opposition, the censorship of the media, the intimidation and arrest of journalists, as well as politicians and demanded their immediate and unconditional release".

    The European Parliament demanded that an international "independent" investigative body should look into the political assassinations in Madagascar, human rights violations and acts of repression perpetrated by the army and security forces.

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