Contenu du sommaire : Madagascar, les urnes et la rue

The Presidential Elections of 16 December 2001The political crisis that followed the ballot of 16 December 2001 dealt a severe blow to the democratization process in Madagascar. Nonetheless, this article shows that if Malagasy democracy is ill, it is not because of its electorate – which has demonstrated a remarkable maturity – but of its State and political élites. Electoral fraud, and especially the exclusion of some 20% of the electorate from voting lists, sheds light on the massive malfunctioning of an incomplete democracy. But it also demonstrates that the hypothesis of ethnic voting patterns, which is often invoked to explain conflicts in Africa, does not hold. The attachment to democratic values is obvious, as manifested by the decrease in abstentions during these elections.

Power in Duplicate
The presidential elections of December 2001, of which the results were contested, were followed by massive demonstrations in the Malagasy capital city. These demonstrations against D.Ratsiraka were non-violent, markedly ritualised, and were supported by religious leaders, thus highlighting the notion that there was a link between the sovereignty of M. Ravalomanana and « God's people ». The demonstrations were followed by the investiture of a « second President » and by the constitution of a duplicate power structure. This mobilisation on a symbolic register played in remarkable ways on the resources of the city – which historically was the showcase for the monarchys power, and later colonial power – and of the « Place du 13 Mai », a square that memorializes three popular movements from the past.

From Healing Bodies to Healing the Nation
This article questions the meaning of promoting « Born Again » Christianity in public spaces during the ceremonial investiture of Marc Ravalomanana. The hypothesis is that in the absence of free and transparent institutions, the legitimation of the electoral process requires the support of popular forms of Christianity that specialise in the struggle against witchcraft and satanic forces – which are thought to be what the previous regime's power was founded on – in addition to the support of mainstream Churches. The antagonism between mainstream Churches and president Ratsiraka is perceived on the register of exorcism, as an opposition between angel and demon. This vision nourishes a political imagination which undermines chances of a proper reflection on the structural causes of corruption.

The Armed Forces and Political Crises (1972-2002)The Malagasy army, which is rich only in generals, has been seriously weakened by D. Ratsiraka's various manipulations since he gained power in 1975. The effort to depoliticize the army between 1992 and 1997 was challenged by the « admiral's » return to power. This article analyzes the various currents, « loyalist », « legalist » and « legitimist », which shared the army's command during the early months of the political conflict. The armed forces appear to have splintered, in a manner similar to the Malagasy nation as a whole.

Tamatave and Tribalism
The province and city of Tamatave are often presented as a fief of D. Ratsiraka and hence as a site of heightened « tribalism ». This perception is unfounded with respect to the province, which is heterogeneous in its ethnic composition, but also for « Betsimiraka country » where electoral preferences vary regionally. Only the Betsimiraka south voted massively in favor of the outgoing president – and even there with the support of electoral list tampering. As for the city of Tamatave, its population is also heterogeneous, and votes were almost evenly split between the two presidential candidates. If ethnic loyalty is indeed strong, it did not lead to a mass tribalist response, but rather to an opposition between autochtonous and immigrant populations.

Political Economy and Geopolitics of Roadblocks« Economic » roadblocks are an innovation of the present crisis in Madagascar. By interrupting road traffic between the coasts and the capital city, Ratsiraka's supporters want to place a stranglehold on Imerina– now deprived of access to the coast and hence to imported goods. This strategy did not work. It damages economic activities and interrupts important exchanges between coasts and highlands, but the porous nature of the blockages have produced a flourishing black market which has kept supplies flowing to the central region. Presented as instruments of geopolitics, the roadblocks are rather a new form of political economy anchored in history – one that searches to maximize profits through the production of artificial commodity scarcity.

Territorial Strategies in the Malagasy Crisis
The roadblock-prone crisis has broken territorial continuity, at least in part. The idea of the nation-state and electoral stakes become a territorial battle. The bitter struggle over what is at stake in controlling strategic infrastructures, as well as financial and institutional resources reveal the emergence of new strategic spaces. State or nation, which reveals itself effectively weaker in the reconfigurations taking place during the Malagasy crisis? What happens then to the conquest of power and what might be the new rights of people to dispose of themselves at stake in the present?

Imagining the Stranger in the Madagascar's Crisis
Marc Ravalomanana's international recognition is one of the major concerns of his supporters, which accounts for the fact that the latter paid considerable attention to the positions taken by northern international donors. But they have since attained greater geopolitical realism and have accepted the mediation of the OAU in efforts to resolve the crisis, thus leading to changes in Malagasy representations of Africa. The intervention of France, a country with which Madagascar has ambiguous relations, raises the question of the real or supposed influence of foreign powers in the country's affairs. This article analyzes the discourse about the other of a particular category of Malagasy, in a context where the imagination is fed by rumor.

Malian Presidential Elections: Democracy Taking Root?
On 12 May 2002, general Amadou Toumani Touré – who in 1991 overthrew the dictator general Moussa Traoré – was elected president of the Republic of Mali after a decade in which Adema and Alpha Oumar Konaré held power. Do these presidential elections, which inaugurate the first changeover of political power in Mali, mark a new stage in the rooting of Malian democratic processes? Or, by contrast, do the persistent rumors of occult arrangements and of numerous irregularities that purportedly have compromised the ballot reveal their thwarting?

Finally, the End of War in Angola. Towards Which Peace?
After 27 years of civil war in Angola, on 4 April 2002 an agreement was signed that put an end to hostilities, this time permanently – one hopes. The accord opens to Angolans a future on hold [since independence, but bears the signs of the paths taken to reach it: a « military solution » carried out until the death of Unita leader Jonas Savimbi instead of the choice of political negotiations; and an agreement that focuses on the necessary demobilization of rebels, but without putting in place the conditions for reconciliation and democratization processes which are essential to a permanent civil peace.