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History and Government
History: According to local legend, the island was first inhabited by the Vazimba, a race of white pygmies. These people, if they existed, were displaced by successive waves of Polynesian migrants from the Malayo-Indonesian archipelago, from as early as the sixth century AD. In the ninth century, Madagascar was a major trading power in the western Indian Ocean. Moreover, ancient ruins indicate an extensive Arab presence on the island around that time. Bantu tribes from mainland Africa later settled on the west coast. The first Europeans arrived in the mid-17th century. Several French settlements were established on the south-east coast but were destroyed within 30 years.
At the time, Madagascar supported several kingdoms along its coastline and, in the central highlands, the kingdom of the Merina, which was the dominant ethnic group. From their fortress city of Antananarivo, the 19th-century kings gradually conquered the coastal kingdoms and by 1830 most of the island was under unified Merina control. The success of the Merina was partly due to a well-worked strategy of playing off rival European colonists against each other, in particular the British and the French. However, the UK – with copious commitments elsewhere – was content by the end of the 19th century to leave the southern Indian Ocean to the French. Without a counter-balancing power, Madagascar was vulnerable to French takeover, which duly occurred in 1896 when the Merina kingdom was overthrown by a French military force.
The French introduced cash crops to their new colony. In 1948 the Malagasy people sought to re-establish their independence through armed insurrection. They were unsuccessful, but the uprising paved the way for independence, which came in 1960. Philibert Tsirana's PSD Party ruled with the support of France and the people of the coastal regions until 1972, when highland agitation against French influence prompted the Army Chief of Staff, Major-General Ramanantsoa, to assume executive power for the purpose of pursuing a more nationalistic policy. Three years later the military government resigned after selecting Lt-Commander Didier Ratsiraka as head of state.
A gradual civilianisation of the Government culminated in 1977 in elections to the National People's Assembly, which were won by the sole legal party, Avant-garde de la Révolution Malgache (AREMA). Other political groupings have since emerged, but an equally important factor in the island's politics is the historic rivalry between the highland and lowland (coastal) clans. This was illustrated by the 1989 dispute over a new appointment to the post of prime minister. When a highlander and ethnic Merina, Colonel Ramahatra, was announced, the lowland opposition groups – ranging from Christian Democrats to old-style Maoists – put aside their differences to campaign, albeit unsuccessfully, against the appointment. President Ratsiraka, who was re-elected in 1983, was allied to neither camp. He had enjoyed the consistent support of the French since they managed to persuade him to drop his initial attachment to Marxism in the 1970s. Ratsiraka remained in power, amid occasional bouts of civil unrest, for the next ten years.
In 1992, under intense domestic and international pressure, Ratsiraka conceded the introduction of a genuinely democratic constitution. The first presidential poll under the new system was held in 1993; Ratsiraka was defeated by a professor of medicine, Albert Zafy, representing the Comité des Forces Vives (CFV). Zafy’s term of office was marred by unconstitutional practices and severe economic problems, but he only narrowly lost the November 1996 election to Ratsiraka.
The old highland/lowland rivalry which dominated the country’s politics had by now been transformed into an urban/rural split. This emerged at the 2001 election. This time, Ratsiraka's opponent was a businessman, Marc Ravalomanana. The ballot ended in an acrimonious dispute over whether Ravalomanana, who undoubtedly led the poll, had reached the 50 per cent threshold required to win on the first ballot. Ravalomanana and his supporters were convinced that he had and organised mass demonstrations in the urban areas from which he drew his main support. Ratsiraka, meanwhile, was equally certain that he was still the legitimate incumbent and mobilised his extensive rural support. A bizarre but increasingly violent stand-off followed: the capital was effectively cut off from the rest of the country; roads and bridges were destroyed and suppliers of food and essential goods were unable or unwilling to sell their goods in the capital.
With both sides spurning mediation, the impasse could only be resolved by a trial of strength which in turn depended upon which side the army decided to back. Most senior officers sided with Ravalomanana and by July 2002, he had secured control over the whole country. The crisis left Madagascar in a desperate economic state and a fragile political condition for the new government to alleviate.
Government: Under the terms of a new constitution adopted by popular referendum in August 1992, legislative power resides in a bicameral legislature, comprising a partially-elected Senate and fully-elected National Assembly, each of which has a four-year term. A Council of Ministers is appointed by the Prime Minister. The President is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President from a list of candidates nominated by the National Assembly. Executive power rests with the prime minister.
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