Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ANTANANARIVO1369
2006-12-07 15:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Antananarivo
Cable title:  

ELECTION DAY ATMOSPHERE IN TAMATAVE

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHAN #1369/01 3411503
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071503Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3978
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0756
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 001369 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/FO, INR/AA, AND DRL
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA
SUBJECT: ELECTION DAY ATMOSPHERE IN TAMATAVE


ANTANANARI 00001369 001.2 OF 002


REFTEL: ANTANANARIVO 1364 AND PREVIOUS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 001369

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/FO, INR/AA, AND DRL
PARIS FOR D'ELIA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA
SUBJECT: ELECTION DAY ATMOSPHERE IN TAMATAVE


ANTANANARI 00001369 001.2 OF 002


REFTEL: ANTANANARIVO 1364 AND PREVIOUS


1. (U) BACKGROUND: Madagascar is an island, but it is also a large
and diverse country, home to 18 major tribal groups. There is
considerable variation in the practice of democracy from region to
region and between urban and rural voters; a fact quite apparent in
the December 3 presidential election. Thus this message should not
be taken as indicative of the process in Madagascar as a whole, but
offers a flavor of Malagasy politics on election day in Foulepointe
and Fenerive Est, medium-sized towns near the regional capital of
Tamatave on Madagascar's east coast. It was drafted by a member of
a U.S. Mission election observation unit, one of 25 teams scattered
throughout the country to help assure that Madagascar's electoral
process would be free, fair and transparent.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM?
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2. (U) Although widely predicted to be the potential epicenter of
election-related violence, the historically troublesome Tamatave
Province (home base of presidential candidate Roland Ratsiraka and
his uncle, former President Didier Ratsiraka),was calm December 2,
the eve of the election. With barely a campaign poster in sight,
the coastal towns seemed more focused on the upcoming litchi
harvest; the dusty streets were full of "pousse-pousse" (rickshaws)
carting around foreigners intent on loading their cargo destined for
Europe. Contacts from various sectors acknowledged, "All is calm,"
but categorically added the caveat, "At least for now. You never
know what people will do after the results are announced."

ALL QUIET ON ELECTION DAY
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3. (U) When our observation team arrived at the first polling
station at 0700 on election day, the queue of voters already snaked
around the side of the one-room schoolhouse. The station president
gravely shook our hands and showed us how his staff had carefully
set out the election materials -- save for the plastic ballot box

still in six pieces on the floor. Officials crowded around to
figure out how to assemble the box, quickly followed by voters who
poured in from outside to shout advice. Thirty minutes and a few
bruised egos later, the box was assembled, locked, and in place.
One by one, the mostly barefoot voters shuffled into the room: old
men wearing straw hats and ill-fitting suit jackets, women with
babies perched on their hips, families in their Sunday best on the
way to church, and young men clad in ripped t-shirts. Polling
officials prodded the voters into a scraggly line, where they
patiently awaited their turn to present their voter cards, select
one ballot paper for each of the ten candidates represented (smaller
versions of the candidates' campaign posters),and then go behind
the tattered sheet serving as a secret voting booth. Proud voters
emerged holding nothing but the envelope containing their ballot
which they dropped into the ballot box, but bulges under their
shirts and waistbands suggested the unused ballots would be taken
home as souvenirs or toys for the children.


4. (U) At the following 13 polling stations, we saw the same fairly
orderly process with slight variations. Voting locations were at
best small concrete schoolhouses, and at worst ramshackle huts
covered with palm fronds. Squeezing into the child-sized desks and
rickety benches reserved for observers, we watched the voters file
into secret ballot booths carefully constructed of tattered sheets,
sheet metal, straw, scraps of wood, and -- in one case -- an old
bicycle frame. Chickens and cattle mingled with waiting voters, who
stood through rain showers under colorful umbrellas or beneath
nearby trees. Those closer to the door excitedly jammed up against
the windows to watch the proceedings inside. And without fail, we
were welcomed with the same seriousness and courtesy by the polling
station president and officials.


5. (U) In the course of our observations, we came across one of the
observers from the Committee of National Election Observers (CNOE)
who had received advanced training from the National Democratic
Institute (NDI) financed by the USG. His attention to detail was
impressive, as he pointed out apparently minor discrepancies
regarding the total number of voters on the last page of every
polling station's voter registration list.

ETHNIC RIVALRY PALPABLE, ESPECIALLY AFTER DARK
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6. (SBU) The ethnic rivalry between those living on the coast
("Cotier") and those living on the "haut plateau" (including the

ANTANANARI 00001369 002.2 OF 002


historically dominant Merina tribe) was more palpable on the coast
than in the capital city of Antananarivo. Contacts cautioned us
that hate of the haut plateau runs strong around Tamatave. In our
first few hours on the ground, our driver was approached by a group
of men on the street who warned him to remove his Ravalomanana
t-shirt, "or else." Contacts shrugged their shoulders when
questioned about rumors that certain neighborhoods in Tamatave had
agreed to set fire to the homes of Ravalomanana supporters if he won
in the first round, saying, "We always hear such things." Yet, at
the same time, they explained to us how people in small towns along
the coast are easily manipulated and agitated. They also described
how acts of political violence on the coast are directed at persons,
whereas around Antananarivo targets are more often official
institutions. Since political conflicts in 1991, Tamatave residents
have seen occasional incidents of people setting their neighbors'
houses ablaze for supporting the "wrong" candidate or political
party; or merely for being from the haut plateau.


7. (U) The vote counts we observed were most indicative of these
sentiments. Lacking electricity, many coastal residents poured out
of their homes to watch the vote count as their Sunday night
entertainment. The reaction of the raucous crowds pressed up
against the polling station windows was reminiscent of a sporting
match. As we observed by candlelight, each time the counter thrust
a ballot high in the air and called the candidate's name, his
announcement was greeted by screams of support or jeers from the
crowd. It was no surprise that Roland Ratsiraka was the crowd's
favorite, but we were slightly jarred by the reaction of some people
to his ballot papers set on a red background: "Red! Red is for
blood! We want blood! Give us more blood!" They then taunted the
highland observers in our election observation unit. While these
comments made them uncomfortable, at no point did they feel their
safety was at risk.


8. (U) At another vote count, at least 80 people had managed to push
their way in to fill every corner of the polling station, even
standing on chairs and window ledges. As our observation team tried
to push its way into the room, we were stopped at the door by a
powerful wave of body heat and odor that made it impossible to
enter. With gendarmes standing nearby, this crowd's reaction to the
vote count (especially Ratsiraka ballots) was even more vigorous
than the first: jumping and dancing, waving banners, pushing, and
screaming competing political songs and slogans. Our colleagues
from Antananarivo characterized the coastal people's emotional
reaction as a call to "take back power" from the Merina.

COMMENT
- - - -


9. (SBU) Overall, we were impressed by the seriousness of election
preparations and voter participation, although the officials had
clearly received inadequate training. In contrast to U.S. voters
removed from the counting process as television viewers, the
Malagasy take a front-row seat. While we take the ominous
undertones of our conversations and observations as election day
hyperbole and a natural byproduct of regional rivalries, we will
still watch this region closely as the announcement of results draws
near. END COMMENT.

MCGEE