TURMOIL IN MADAGASCAR
Please keep PC(USA) mission worker Dan Turk and his wife Elizabeth in your prayers, along with the country of Madagascar and the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM) with whom the Synod of the Northeast is a partner. Church journalists from the FJKM have been jailed in recent months. Other church leaders feel threatened. Although the international community has been trying to help the country move forward in a process that will restore constitutional governance, the way forward since the coup d’etat by Andy Rajoelina in March 2009 has been difficult. February 10 marks an important date because the European Union will be meeting to decide whether to impose sanctions on the Rajoelina government. Below is an update from Dan, distributed with his permission:
Madagascar
Madagascar Update, 8 February 2010
Dear Friends,
We are doing fine, though Madagascar is slipping, slipping.
On Saturday 6 February the 15-day window expired for the 4 mouvances (those led by Rajoelina, Ratsiraka, Zafy, and Ravalomanana) to respond to the proposals of the International Contact Group for Madagascar (ICG). The ICG is led by the African Union (AU) and includes the United States, France, European Union, SADC, UN, and others. The deal from the ICG is simple: agree to the Maputo Accords and Addis Ababa Additional Agreement or face sanctions. The Maputo Accords and Addis Ababa Additional Agreement provide for a consensual transitional government to hold the reigns of power while legislative and presidential elections are held. It appears that Andry Rajoelina continues to reject important provisions of the Maputo Accords (even though he signed them) so Madagascar awaits sanctions. Will sanctions really happen? If so, what, and when? The European Union is holding a meeting on 10 February in which it may decide on sanctions. The African Union and United States could decide on sanctions any day now.
The president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, recently replaced Libya’s Kaddafi as head of the African Union. With the change in leadership, the African Union has apparently decided to take strong action against regimes that come to power by illegal means.
This past week Andry Rajoelina was in France for a ‘private’ visit in which he met with government officials as well as members of the French Senate, National Assembly, and national media. Yesterday, Andry Rajoelina and his wife presided at a worship service in front of the presidential palace to commemorate the shootings on 7 February 2009. France SEEMS to many to be playing a double game: going along with the proposals of the ICG, while continuing to support the coup d’etat government militarily and through other means.
Earlier last week (1 February) two of Andry Rajoelina’s ministers had an unofficial meeting with a high-ranking State Department official (Philip Carter) in Washington.
On Saturday there was another ecumenical worship service for the country at Antsahamanitra amphitheater next to the presidential palace. It was well attended. The pastors leading these worship services (there have been three) say they are planning some kind of mass action to protest human rights violations. Didier Ravohangiharison and Lolot Ratsimba, director and journalist, respectively, of the FJKM church radio station, have now been in jail for a month.
Also Saturday, protesters against the coup d’etat decided to go back to private property to hold their protests. They apparently are tired of getting tear gassed on public property.
The past couple of weeks have seen conflict between people selling goods on the streets of Antananarivo and municipal officials. Many of those selling goods on the streets recently lost their jobs due to the cancellation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). These days the city sends a truck load of municipal employees to confiscate goods sold on the street, backed by a truckload of armed security people. Needless to say, many people are not happy. Recent weeks have also seen an ongoing strike by government medical personnel which is resulting in inadequate health care and deaths in some cases.
Hardship is increasing in many other ways. A visitor might not notice it however: there are plenty of goods in the stores, fuel at the pump, police directing traffic. But people are having a hard time making ends meet; tens of thousands recently lost their jobs. Crime is way up with news every week of buses being hijacked along the national roads, businesses robbed, etc. A few days ago, a man held a press conference to tell about being robbed of a substantial sum of money on 18 December in the Colbert Hotel by members of the special military unit that answers directly to Andry Rajoelina. Apparently those who took part in the robbery got filmed by one of the hotel’s security cameras and two of the people got captured.
For our colleagues working in the Development Department of the FJKM church, the announcement was made this past Friday that all employees at the central office will only receive half pay for the next five months, starting in February. This will result in much hardship, especially for those on the lower end of the pay scale. Details about how this half pay, half time will happen remain to be worked out.
Despite all the uncertainty, we continue to feel safe, though we don’t drive at night and are taking other precautions.
Please continue to pray for Madagascar.
Peace,
Dan
Madagascar
Madagascar Update, 8 February 2010
Dear Friends,
We are doing fine, though Madagascar is slipping, slipping.
On Saturday 6 February the 15-day window expired for the 4 mouvances (those led by Rajoelina, Ratsiraka, Zafy, and Ravalomanana) to respond to the proposals of the International Contact Group for Madagascar (ICG). The ICG is led by the African Union (AU) and includes the United States, France, European Union, SADC, UN, and others. The deal from the ICG is simple: agree to the Maputo Accords and Addis Ababa Additional Agreement or face sanctions. The Maputo Accords and Addis Ababa Additional Agreement provide for a consensual transitional government to hold the reigns of power while legislative and presidential elections are held. It appears that Andry Rajoelina continues to reject important provisions of the Maputo Accords (even though he signed them) so Madagascar awaits sanctions. Will sanctions really happen? If so, what, and when? The European Union is holding a meeting on 10 February in which it may decide on sanctions. The African Union and United States could decide on sanctions any day now.
The president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, recently replaced Libya’s Kaddafi as head of the African Union. With the change in leadership, the African Union has apparently decided to take strong action against regimes that come to power by illegal means.
This past week Andry Rajoelina was in France for a ‘private’ visit in which he met with government officials as well as members of the French Senate, National Assembly, and national media. Yesterday, Andry Rajoelina and his wife presided at a worship service in front of the presidential palace to commemorate the shootings on 7 February 2009. France SEEMS to many to be playing a double game: going along with the proposals of the ICG, while continuing to support the coup d’etat government militarily and through other means.
Earlier last week (1 February) two of Andry Rajoelina’s ministers had an unofficial meeting with a high-ranking State Department official (Philip Carter) in Washington.
On Saturday there was another ecumenical worship service for the country at Antsahamanitra amphitheater next to the presidential palace. It was well attended. The pastors leading these worship services (there have been three) say they are planning some kind of mass action to protest human rights violations. Didier Ravohangiharison and Lolot Ratsimba, director and journalist, respectively, of the FJKM church radio station, have now been in jail for a month.
Also Saturday, protesters against the coup d’etat decided to go back to private property to hold their protests. They apparently are tired of getting tear gassed on public property.
The past couple of weeks have seen conflict between people selling goods on the streets of Antananarivo and municipal officials. Many of those selling goods on the streets recently lost their jobs due to the cancellation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). These days the city sends a truck load of municipal employees to confiscate goods sold on the street, backed by a truckload of armed security people. Needless to say, many people are not happy. Recent weeks have also seen an ongoing strike by government medical personnel which is resulting in inadequate health care and deaths in some cases.
Hardship is increasing in many other ways. A visitor might not notice it however: there are plenty of goods in the stores, fuel at the pump, police directing traffic. But people are having a hard time making ends meet; tens of thousands recently lost their jobs. Crime is way up with news every week of buses being hijacked along the national roads, businesses robbed, etc. A few days ago, a man held a press conference to tell about being robbed of a substantial sum of money on 18 December in the Colbert Hotel by members of the special military unit that answers directly to Andry Rajoelina. Apparently those who took part in the robbery got filmed by one of the hotel’s security cameras and two of the people got captured.
For our colleagues working in the Development Department of the FJKM church, the announcement was made this past Friday that all employees at the central office will only receive half pay for the next five months, starting in February. This will result in much hardship, especially for those on the lower end of the pay scale. Details about how this half pay, half time will happen remain to be worked out.
Despite all the uncertainty, we continue to feel safe, though we don’t drive at night and are taking other precautions.
Please continue to pray for Madagascar.
Peace,
Dan
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