Easy to make the peace sign when you’re surrounded by men with guns.
President Marc Ravalomanana stepped down today after opposition leader Andry Rajoelina installed himself in the president’s offices, rebel forces having captured them overnight. It isn’t clear at this stage who is running the country, since Ravalomanana handed power to the military rather than the opposition.
As outcomes go, I suppose a peaceful coup is better than a shoot-out. It’s still desperately sad to see what was one of Africa’s success stories succumb once again to a power grab.
Rajeolina is 34 and a former DJ, owner of the Malagasy TV station VIVA. Is he fit to run a country? Can you ever trust a man who resorts to violence to seize power? For all his talk, will Rajoelina actually seek the good of the poor? And what will become of Ravalomanana’s hard-won environmental measures in this ecological treasure of a country?
The Earthbound Report 
I wonder how a man like Rajoelina, who has so flagrantly flouted due legal process, can ever hope to establish any semblance of legitimate rule. Whatever the faults of Ravalomanana (and they are many and significant) this is not the way to bring change. The tragedy is for ordinary Malagasy folk whose lives and livelihoods are yet again at the brink of the abyss because of the avarice and ambition of a few.