Andry Rajoelina, a 35-year-old disc jockey, seized power in Madagascar just over a year ago, with the help of the nation’s military. He dissolved the parliament and replaced the high court judges. The country has since discovered that even a disc jockey cannot solve its economic problems. Foreign aid flows, on which the country is heavily dependent, have slowed because of the dim view the donor community takes of military coups.
An inevitable fact of military coups is that once a country has experienced one coup, the likelihood of another coup increases greatly. Nineteen people have just been arrested for allegedly plotting a coup in which the prime minister’s house was to be attacked yesterday morning. However there are plenty more people interested in overthrowing the present government, which has failed to observe power-sharing agreements negotiated last year.
One week ago the army gave President Rajoelina until the end of this month to offer an acceptable way out of the current political crisis and restore constitutional order. They have demanded that he show how the government is going to pay the salaries of public servants (including presumably army officers). The same army that installed Rajoelina in power may well end up removing him.