Press Statement of the Organ Troika

1.  The SADC Ministerial Committee of the Organ Troika fielded a mission to Madagascar from 11 – 17 September 2011.The mission was mandated by the SADC Summit held in Luanda, Angola on17 August 2011.The mission comprised of the representatives from the Republic of South Africa as Chair, the Republic of Zambia and the United Republic of Tanzania. The mandate of the mission was to engage the political stakeholders to fully implement the roadmap as amended by the decisions taken by the SADC Summit in June 2011 and subsequently reiterated by the Luanda Summit as a matter of urgency, with a view to finding a lasting solution in Madagascar. The Mission was supported by the SADC Mediation Team and the Executive Secretary.

2.  During the mission, the Ministerial Committee of the Organ Troika held  consultations with the  key stakeholders including:  ESCOPOL, HPM, MDM, MONIMA, TGV, UDR-C, AREMA, MOUVANCE RAVALOMANANA, MOUVANCE RATSIRAKA, MOUVANCE ZAFY, UAMAD, LES AUTRES SENSIBILITES  as well as civil society organisations such as CNOSC, FINONA and RAIAMANDRENY MIJORO, including the Heads of the Armed Forces, additionally the mission paid courtesy calls on the Head of the High Authority of Transition and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

3.  In the work of the consultations with the political stakeholders, it emerged that there were contestations around paragraph twenty (20) as amended by the Sandton Summit and reaffirmed by the Luanda Summit. It would appear that these contestations emanated from a letter addressed to the Malagasy political stakeholders, dated 17 June 2011 by the Executive Secretary of SADC.  There was a general feeling by some of the Malagasy political stakeholders that the amendment contained in that letter did not correctly reflect the spirit and letter of both the Sandton Summit and the Luanda Summit.   

4.  One of the major preoccupations of the Troika Mission was to clarify the ambiguities and apparent discrepancies between the amendment as contained in the letter of the executive Secretary and the decisions of both Sandton and Luanda Summits. In fact the decision of Luanda Summit was as follows:

(a) “Summit also urged the High Transition Authority (HTA) to allow Malagasy people in exile for political reasons, to be allowed to return to the country unconditionally including Mr Marc Ravalomanana”.

(b) “Summit further urged the HTA to urgently develop and enact all outstanding legal instruments to ensure the political freedom of all Malagasy in the inclusive process leading to free, fair and credible elections”.

5.  In light of these misinterpretations, the Troika Mission decided to provide clarity and correct misconceptions on paragraph twenty and other aspects of the roadmap. The Troika emphasized that there was a clear distinction between the content and scope of the roadmap and its modalities for implementation.  The Troika decided that the implementation modalities will be elaborated after the signing of the roadmap.

6.  Consequently the Troika redrafted paragraph twenty as follows:

“The High Transition Authorities (HTA) shall allow all Malagasy citizens in exile for political reasons to return to the country unconditionally, including Mr. Marc Ravalomanana. The HTA shall provide security and safety to all Malagasy returnees. The HTA shall urgently develop and enact the necessary legal instruments, including an amnesty law, to ensure the political freedom of all Malagasy citizens in the inclusive process of the transition, towards free, fair and credible elections”.

7.  After extensive consultations with political stakeholders it merged that there was sufficient consensus for political stakeholders to sign the roadmap as amended. To this end, the Troika Mission to organize the signing ceremony which continued into the early hours of the morning of 17 September 2011. Ten of the eleven political stakeholders signed the roadmap and nine other supported the roadmap.

8.  The Troika Mission wishes to pay a special tribute to all leaders and the political groups that participated in the negotiations and subsequent signing of the roadmap. They have placed the interest of the Malagasy people and the nation above self-interest. They have demonstrated a commitment to give peace a chance and work assiduously on the path of reconciliation towards peace, security and stability of their nation. It is our hope and expectation that having signed the roadmap, the Malagasy people and their leaders will work together to reconstruct their country by implementing the roadmap towards returning the country towards constitutional normalcy though free, fair and credible elections. We call upon the international community to extend their technical, moral and material support to the Malagasy people to end the cycle of conflict.

9.  LONG LIVE MADAGASCAR, VIVA MADAGASCAR!

Issued by the Organ Troika Mission
Antananarivo

15 September 2011