Madagascar on Brink of "Civil War": Interim President Randrianirina Speaks Out | APT - video Dailymotion

APT

Madagascar’s Interim President Michael Randrianirina addressed the nation in Antananarivo on Monday, stressing that the recent transfer of power was legal and supported by the High Constitutional Court (HCC).  Randrianirina denied claims of a coup, stating the transition followed the demands of the Malagasy people, especially youth and civil servants, after months of protests over power and water shortages. He emphasized that the country was on the brink of “civil war” and that HCC approval stabilized the situation.  The interim government is also working to restructure the state-owned utility JIRAMA, respond to union demands, and restore ties with the international community. Meanwhile, Madagascar’s membership in the African Union has been suspended following the change in government.  #Madagascar #Randrianirina #MadagascarPolitics #CoupOrNot #AfricaNews #PoliticalTransition #JIRAMA #AfricanUnion #BreakingNews #CivilUnrest

Transcript

00:00That was not a coup d'etat.

00:02To me, a coup d'etat means bringing soldiers, for example,

00:05marching toward the presidential palace,

00:08either in Iavaloja or in Ambohitsirohitra,

00:11bringing soldiers and guns and shooting people,

00:14injuring people, arresting people.

00:17That is not what happened.

00:19What happened is what we all saw in those videos.

00:23The demands made by the Malagasy people,

00:25especially the youth who joined the movement,

00:27when the unions and all the civil servants joined in.

00:31When they made their demands, that is what happened.

00:34Injuries, arrests, detentions.

00:36That is what the government did at that time,

00:39using what is called regulatory power,

00:41in French Pouvoir Regulateur,

00:43which the HCC took up and used.

00:46And they appointed us, the military under my command,

00:49to lead the country and the transition.

00:52Remember that if the HCC had not taken that decision,

00:55no one knows what state Madagascar would be in today,

00:58because we were close to, excuse me, civil war at that time.

01:02Without the HCC giving us that mandate,

01:05we don't know what would have happened.

01:07So it was the HCC that gave us the authority,

01:10not the power we seized at the palace.

01:13It was not a coup d'etat.

01:14It was the will of the people.

01:16I have already made several statements about that matter,

01:19that those people will be sent back to prison,

01:22because at that time,

01:23things were still very tense when we were at Capsat,

01:26and we heard that those people were released,

01:28and we did not know who authorised it.

01:31But you can follow the court proceedings closely.

01:34There is an ongoing investigation regarding that,

01:37to bring back those individuals who were released in an illegal manner.

01:41Regarding what is happening within Jarama,

01:43the demands made by the unions are several.

01:46First, the cancellation of the statute put in place

01:49by the previous administration,

01:51which the unions believe was meant to facilitate

01:54the privatisation of Jarama.

01:56That is one point.

01:58The second is the dissolution of the board of directors.

02:01The third is restructuring,

02:03because there are 13 deputy general directors,

02:06which is a heavy burden for Jarama,

02:08and the unions are right about that.

02:11Fourth, the release of the Jarama employees in Mahajanga,

02:14who were arrested.

02:16And the fifth and final demand

02:18is the removal of the current general director.

02:21Those are the demands made by the unions.

02:23They have already reported them to me,

02:25and we have discussed them.

02:27And I told them clearly.

02:29You have the fundamental right to express

02:32and demand what you are asking for.

02:34You can do so, but do not destroy public property

02:37and do not take the population hostage.

02:40That is what I clearly told them.

02:42The government made efforts.

02:44It moved forward.

02:45The board of directors was dissolved on Wednesday.

02:48They are now working on reviewing the statute.

02:51There is already a draft structure

02:53to reduce the number of deputy general directors

02:55from 13 to 4.

02:57That is already underway.

02:59This means the government is trying to respond

03:01to the union's demands.

03:03As for us now,

03:04we are still trying to restore cooperation

03:06with the international community.

03:08Because, as we all know,

03:09we are still sanctioned,

03:11including by the African Union.

03:13We are still trying to deal with that.

03:15But regardless,

03:16discussions are ongoing with the World Bank,

03:19the European Union,

03:20who are involved in those projects,

03:22to continue them.

03:23We had already considered that,

03:25but if it had been done earlier,

03:27we would not have reached the crisis of September 25th.

03:30There was an obstacle,

03:32an obstacle that should not have been there,

03:34and those before us know why it wasn't done.

03:36But we will move forward with it.

03:38We are waiting for recognition.

03:40Then we will proceed.

03:42As you know,

03:43there is a large sum of money,

03:45up to $600 million,

03:47which the Malagasy State does not have access to today,

03:50and no one knows how it ended up abroad.

03:53So, there are two tasks for us,

03:56the Malagasy right now.

03:58The return of Mami Ravatamanga to the country,

04:01so that the Malagasy people may judge him under Malagasy law

04:05for everything he has done to the nation.

04:07And second,

04:08our efforts to bring that money back to Madagascar.

04:12This is quite complicated,

04:14because he has already prepared himself.

04:17He has several nationalities,

04:19Ivorian and Serbian,

04:21and here Malagasy.

04:23Our Malagasy lawyers are still working on this,

04:26and the Ministry of Justice is focusing on gathering evidence

04:29to send to Mauritius,

04:30so that he can be held there.

04:32Well done.

04:33T

04:49he

Madagascar on Brink of "Civil War": Interim President Randrianirina Speaks Out | APT

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