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Madagascar The Third Republic, 1993-
The Third Republic officially was inaugurated on March
27,
1993, when Zafy was sworn in as president. The victory of
the
Forces Vives was further consolidated in elections held on
June
13, 1993, for 138 seats in the newly created National
Assembly.
Voters turned out in low numbers (roughly 30 to 40 percent
abstained) because they were being called upon to vote for
the
fourth time in less than a year. The Forces Vives and
other
allied parties won seventy-five seats. This coalition gave
Zafy a
clear majority and enabled him to chose Francisque Ravony
of the
Forces Vives as prime minister.
By the latter half of 1994, the heady optimism that
accompanied this dramatic transition process had declined
somewhat as the newly elected democratic government found
itself
confronted with numerous economic and political obstacles.
Adding
to these woes was the relatively minor but nonetheless
embarrassing political problem of Ratsiraka's refusal to
vacate
the President's Palace. The Zafy regime has found itself
under
increasing economic pressure from the IMF and foreign
donors to
implement market reforms, such as cutting budget deficits
and a
bloated civil service, that do little to respond to the
economic
problems facing the majority of Madagascar's population.
Zafy
also confronts growing divisions within his ruling
coalition, as
well as opposition groups commonly referred to as
"federalists"
seeking greater power for the provinces (known as
"faritany")
under a more decentralized government
(see
fig. 2).
Although
recently spurred by the desire of anti-Zafy forces to gain
greater control over local affairs, historically
Madagascar has
witnessed a tension between domination by the central
highlanders
and pressures from residents of outlying areas to manage
their
own affairs. In short, the Zafy regime faces the dilemma
of using
relatively untested political structures and "rules of the
game"
to resolve numerous issues of governance.
Data as of August 1994
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