with our correspondent in Antananarivo, Sarah Tetaud
In a statement issued on Tuesday April 4 and co-signed by eight embassies including the European Union delegation, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom, the diplomatic missions expressed their concern over the adoption of such a measure, in the run-up to the presidential election scheduled for the end of the year. ” The possibility of freely expressing one’s political opinions is one of the foundations of democracy “, recall in the preamble, the signatory States of the press release. A principle defended many times by Madagascar, also underlines Sergiusz Wolski, the charge d’affaires of the European Union delegation.
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« It is enshrined in the Constitution of Madagascar, but also in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which was also signed by Madagascar in 1971, so the Minister’s announcement, which prohibits demonstrations of a political nature in the public places goes once morest those two texts. »
A transgression of the texts all the more worrying, as it establishes an inequality between the various political actors of the country.
« It’s inconvenient because this restriction should be the same for everyone. But here, you have a case where there is a group of politicians, namely members of the government, for whom an exception has been made. And that is really discriminatory. »
The signatory diplomatic missions are also concerned regarding the possible consequences of this regulation, which might “, according to the press release, “ contribute to tense the political climate in the run-up to the presidential election normally scheduled for next November.
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