UNITED
NATIONS, May
16 -- Amid
growing
controversy in
and about
Madagascar,
at the UN noon
briefing on
May 13, Inner
City Press
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City Press: On
the Madagascar
question, is,
is, there has
been since
I last asked
this, the SADC
(Southern
African
Development
Community)
has come out
and said that
three
candidates,
they are
encouraged to
withdraw their
candidacies,
saying they
are not
consistent
with the
road map. This
is Mr. [Andry]
Rajoelina,
also Lalao
Ravalomanana
and
another
candidate. And
so, one, I
wanted to know
if there is a
UN
response to
that, but two,
since Ms.
Ravalomanana
is being
barred for
having been
out of the
country, and
this was a
forced exile
by the
Government, I
am wondering
whether the UN
has any view
on forced
exile, that
being used as
a basis to bar
a candidate
from running.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
We can check
for you on
that, Matthew.
I don’t have
anything right
now.
That
exchange took
place at
Monday's noon
briefing, and
three hours
later
Inner City
Press was
again told
that it was
being looked
into. But it
was not until
Wednesday, 47
hours after
the question,
that a
response
arrived. But
the UN
response did,
deferring to
SADC, take or
adopt a
position:
Subject:
Your
question on
Madagascar
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Wed, May
15, 2013 at
11:13 AM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
In
response to
your questions
at the noon
briefing
concerning
Madagascar,
the
Spokesperson
can say the
following:
The
United Nations
is supporting
the Southern
African
Development
Community's
(SADC's)
mediation
efforts to
ensure a
peaceful
transition in
Madagascar,
and what SADC
has urged is
that President
Rajoelina, the
former first
lady, Lalao
Ravalomanana,
and former
President
Didier
Ratsiraka all
consider
withdrawing
their
candidatures
to ensure the
peaceful
conduct of the
elections and
stability in
Madagascar.
With
this answer,
the UN takes a
position if
only
indirectly on
forced
exile: it's
fine, or at
least can
legitimately
be used, in
the UN's
view, to
encourage a
candidate to
withdrawn.
Lalao
Ravalomanana returned
to her country
on July 27,
2012, but was
promptly
kicked out of
the country by
armed security
forces.
The
Universal
Declaration of
Human Rights
includes the
right to
return to
one’s country
as a basic
human right.
So to
maintain, as
France
and SADC --
and now the UN
-- do, that
Mrs.
Ravalomanana’s
candidacy is
not legitimate
is to condone
forced exile
as a means for
preventing
someone from
taking part in
the political
life of their
nation.
After
the CES
decided on May
3 that Lalao
Ravalomanana
is officially
a
candidate,
France
announced on
May 6 its “deception”
on learning
that the CES
accepted Lalao
Ravalomanana’s
candidature.
The
canned
history: in
Madagascar,
France has a
long history
of using
forced exile
as a political
tool for
maintaining
control over
the
island nation.
In 1897 it
exiled
Madagascar’s
last queen who
died
in Algeria in
1917 having
never been
allowed to
return to her
country. After
the 1947
uprising
against French
rule, France
exiled
the three
Malagasy
political
leaders that
France said
were
responsible.
When one tried
to return to
Madagascar in
1959, France
prevented him
from
returning.
In
the current
crisis, after
Marc
Ravalomanana
was overthrown
in Rajoelina’s
2009 coup,
France has
admitted
trying to find
a country to
accept
Ravalomanana
in exile. In
January 2013
France
publicly
voiced its
opposition to
allowing
Marc
Ravalomanana
to return from
forced exile
before
elections.
And
now Lalao
Ravalomanana.
Inner
City Press had
asked, What is
the UN’s
position
regarding Mrs.
Ravalomanana’s
forced exile
in July 2012?
Does the UN
consider
forced exile
to be a
legitimate
reason for
barring a
person from
being a
candidate for
election in
his or her
country? And
that
question has
apparently
been answered.
Watch this
site.
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