A week after Madagascar voted at the UN to condemn Russia’s annexations of territories in Ukraine after referendums through which the highest votes showed the people willed to join Russia, President of Madagascar, Mr. Andry Rajoelina, has sacked his Foreign Minister, Richard Randriamandranto, without giving an explanation.
On Tuesday, before a planned trip to Morocco, the President signed the repeal decree dismissing his minister. “The Minister of Defense is in charge of the interim,” said the decree, which was released to the media.
In the face of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, Madagascar has adopted a non-aligned policy, despite the invitation from the European Union and the United States to condemn Russia.
But on Wednesday October 12, Madagascar, along with 142 other countries, condemned what they called Russia’s “illegal annexations” in Ukraine, in sharp contrast to the political line taken by the country since the beginning of the war.
On Saturday October 15, the public TVM channel broadcast reports accused the foreign minister of having taken this decision without consulting either the head of state or the prime minister.
The information was relayed by the Malagasy press on Monday October 17, accusing the minister of insubordination.
And on Tuesday October 18 at the National Assembly, Richard Randriamandranto refused to answer questions from the press, saying that “we must not create a rift.”
For the opposition, the national coordinator of the HVM party, Rivo Rakotovao, the minister “has only played the role of fuse to correct a diplomatic error”.
UN General Assembly
Penultimate Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn what it said was Russia’s “attempted illegal annexation” of the four regions in Ukraine and called on all countries not to recognise the move.
Of the 193-member General Assembly, 143 countries voted in support of a resolution that also reaffirmed the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.
Two senior officials at President Andriy Rajoelina’s office reportedly told Reuter that Madagascar foreign minister Richard Randriamandrato was sacked for being one of those who voted in support.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine this year has put many African countries in an awkward diplomatic position. Many have a complicated history of relations with the West and the former Soviet Union as well as important economic ties to Russia.
They have largely avoided taking sides over the war, frustrating some Western nations.
Until last week, Madagascar always abstained during the various votes on resolutions related to the crisis in Ukraine. The government spoke of neutrality and non-alignment on the subject.
18 of the 35 countries that chose to abstain from last week’s vote were African. Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Nicaragua voted against the resolution.
No going back – Moscow
But Kremlin has repeatedly insisted that it has annexed the four regions and that there is no going back on the decision.
The question remains, despite the 143 of 193 countries that voted against Russia at the United Nations General Assembly after it effectively vetoed the resolution presented by US at the UN Security Council – with 18 voting in support of Russia while 35 abstaining – how much weight can the 143 that stand with the West pull against the 18 that stand with Russia? This is international politics, many have said.
Russian Law
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday October 19, 2022 introduced martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that Russia annexed last month.
Martial law will be introduced in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — regions in Ukraine that Moscow claimed as Russian territory following referendums in September that Ukraine and its allies have condemned as illegal and illegitimate.
The decree, announced as Putin addressed a meeting of the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, will likely mean that the regions’ civil administrations will be replaced by military ones.
Putin said all those regions should ensure that steps are taken to safeguard “critically important facilities” and said he had made the decision due to Kyiv’s refusal to recognize the annexation of the four areas.
“Constitutional laws on the admission of four new regions into the Russian Federation have come into force. The Kyiv regime, as you know, refused to recognize the will and choice of people, rejects any proposals for negotiations. On the contrary, shelling continues. Civilians are dying,” Putin said, according to comments reported by Russian state news agency Tass.
Putin said he had signed a decree on the introduction of martial law in these four regions and this will now be sent for approval by the Federation Council, or Senate.
Martial law is often introduced as a temporary measure when civil authorities are deemed to be in crisis and struggling to function. The breadth and scope of what is effectively a military takeover is yet to be detailed but martial law generally sees civil rights subsumed to military rule, though how far that changes the current situation for civilians in annexed regions in Ukraine remains to be seen.
