mr president the illegal and unelected regime of andry rajoelina is riddled with corruption and has orchestrated serious human rights abuses in madagascar yet rajoelina came to power pledging an end to corruption and human rights abuses that allegedly flourished under the ousted former president marc ravalomanana
this irony cannot be lost on the long-suffering people of madagascar many of whom live in abject poverty
the eu now needs to consider a substantial reinforcement of targeted measures against rajoelina and his henchmen and cronies and if necessary to invoke the cotonou agreement's provisions on failures of governance and to apply the necessary sanctions
the african union au could do far more
we have heard many platitudes from the au but we have seen little concrete action so far
such action should include brokering an agreement between rajoelina and ravalomanana allowing the former president to return to madagascar without any risk or prejudice
rajoelina should also allow his rival to stand in the presidential election planned for september this year
sadly the portents for stability and reconciliation in madagascar are not good
i hope that in the next few months matters will be resolved peacefully
