COASTAL UNREST CONTINUES IN MADAGASCAR

UNCLAS ANTANANARIVO 000435 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/FO, INR/AA, AND DRL PARIS FOR D'ELIA DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF CKOLLMAR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA SUBJECT: COASTAL UNREST CONTINUES IN MADAGASCAR REF: A) ANTANANARIVO 417 B) ANTANANARIVO 414 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Public demonstrations in Madagascar against blackouts and poor study conditions (reftels) have expanded to include political opposition grievances. Protests seem to be spreading to different coastal cities and even potentially Antananarivo. After several days of protests with limited reports of violence -- including one person allegedly shot in the leg and the torching of buildings -- the situation on the coast is calm at the moment. Opposition party leaders have condemned the government's use of tear gas to disperse protesters and the arrests of elected officials in Tulear (REF B). END SUMMARY. ¶2. (U) Protests against recent blackouts and poor study conditions in a number of Madagascar's coastal cities continue. Protestors in Diego Suarez (also known as Antsiranana) -- including students, opposition members, and civilians -- clashed with police on April 30 and May 1. Protesters lobbed rocks at police, who responded by releasing tear gas and firing shots to disperse the crowd. Post has been unable to confirm the extent of injuries, but media and gendarmes contacts report one person was shot in the leg while four others were wounded. Students briefly took a journalist suspected of being a "spy" for the police hostage on the morning of May 2, but he has since been released. On the morning of May 3, approximately 100 students demonstrated in the city but were soon dispersed by local security forces. The situation in Diego Suarez is reportedly calm at this time. ¶3. (U) In response to recent ethnic tension in the southern city of Tulear (also known as Toliara),representatives of eighteen clans signed an agreement May 2 proclaiming their solidarity in preventing ethnic conflict. Local police searched the residences of three opposition leaders recently arrested for fomenting violent protests in Tulear; their findings were not made public. ¶4. (U) In the western city of Majunga (also known as Mahajanga), opposition leaders and students have continued to hold peaceful public protests. However, in the nearby city of Port BeQ, vandals torched the homes and offices of the District Chief and the Director of JIRAMA, Madagascar's water and power company, to protest the arrest of the president of the local consumer association who has publicly called for an end to the blackouts. He has since been released, and order has been restored in Port Berge. ¶5. (U) Jumping on the bandwagon, students in the University of Antananarivo's School of Medicine threatened to go on strike May 2 to protest delayed scholarship payments. Following a one-day strike May 2, JIRAMA employees in Antananarivo agreed to resume working in exchange for a 12 percent pay increase. However, they threatened to take unspecified action if the Minister of Energy is unable to resolve the terms of a collective bargaining contract suspended last year. ¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Government of Madagascar officials are convinced the malaise over student grievances and blackouts spreading to a number of coastal cities, and potentially Antananarivo, is being orchestrated by unspecified "external actors." While opposition groups around the country are undoubtedly taking advantage of general unrest to push their platforms, Post believes students and civilians are airing genuine grievances in demonstrations that have gotten out of hand. END COMMENT. MCGEE