After having voted in favor of a resolution condemning “the illegal annexations of Russia in Ukraine” at the UN, the Malagasy Minister of Foreign Affairs was landed by President Rajoelina.
It won't last long. The Malagasy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Richard Randriamandrato, will only have spent seven months in office. He has just been dismissed by President Andry Rajoelina, who criticizes his head of diplomacy for having been a little too cavalier when voting for a United Nations (UN) resolution condemning "the annexations of Russia in Ukraine". Madagascar has indeed sided with the West by voting in favor of this text.
For several months, between Madagascar and the international community, tension has been high. Earlier this year, Madagascar signed a military agreement with Moscow. Paris threatens, if the island does not reconsider this agreement, to put on hold its maritime security projects on the spot. But Andry Rajoelina advocates non-alignment, and he doesn't seem ready to go back on that.
Except that the Malagasy vote clashed with the official position of its president. The latter expected his foreign minister to once again abstain from voting, to show his desire for neutrality in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Richard Randriamandrato would have decided otherwise, alone. "This decision to vote for, I took it in my soul and conscience," he told RFI. And the ex-minister to assure: "I do not think that the interest of the nation has been endangered by this vote". Randriamandrato even believes that “history will judge the rest”.
However, the recently sacked foreign minister refuses to confirm that he made this decision alone. "I will not react to it," he brushes off with the back of his hand. Sources familiar with the matter assure that a foreign minister cannot take such a decision without the approval of his president.
Would Andry Rajoelina have asked his minister to vote in favor of the UN resolution before regretting it? Or would he have received a call from Moscow? It would seem that the dismissal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs responds above all to a popular uproar which continues to grow. Within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, it is believed that Richard Randriamandrato was not suitable for this post and that his attitude was unworthy of a head of diplomacy.
In addition to the Russian-Ukrainian file, the Malagasy Ministry of Foreign Affairs has many burning issues to deal with, including that of the Scattered Islands. The Minister of Defense will act as interim until the Malagasy president finds a replacement for this post.