In 2015, Madagascar was led by President Hery Rajaonarimampianina and the government was divided into three branches; executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch was composed of the President, Prime Minister and Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister acted as head of government and appointed ministers responsible for various policy areas. The legislative branch consisted of two chambers; the Senate and National Assembly. Both chambers were elected by citizens in a general election held every five years. The judicial branch included a Supreme Court, High Courts, Regional Courts and other courts with specialized jurisdiction. See ehealthfacts for Madagascar in the year of 2005.
The political system in Madagascar is considered semi-authoritarian given the lack of political freedoms for citizens who are not part of the ruling party or its allies. This means that freedom of speech, assembly and association are all restricted to varying degrees depending on which region or party is in power at any given time. In addition to this, corruption is still a major problem in Madagascar with allegations of bribery being common place in both private businesses as well as government institutions. Despite these issues, however, it is important to note that Madagascar has been making progress over recent years with regards to its democratic development since 2015 particularly through initiatives such as decentralizing power away from the central government to local governments and increasing access to education for all citizens.
Yearbook 2015
Madagascar. In January, Prime Minister Roger Kolo and his government resigned. Kolo cited growing dissatisfaction among the public as the reason for his departure. According to COUNTRYAAH, Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar which is located in Eastern Africa. Promised improvements in living standards have not been made and recurrent electricity cuts have caused frustration among the population. As new Prime Minister, Flight Officer Jean Ravelonarivo was appointed. A large number of the ministers were left behind after the reform, including the Minister of Defense and the Minister of the Interior. The new Foreign Minister became Béatrice Atallah while Gervais Rakotoarimanana was appointed Finance Minister. In November, Prime Minister Ravelonarivo flew to Paris to receive care after suffering a heart attack.
- Also see AbbreviationFinder.org for Madagascar country abbreviations, including geography, history, economy and politics.
In May, President Hery Rajaonarimampianina decided that former President Marc Ravalomanana’s house arrest be revoked. Ravalomanana was president in 2002–09 and was overthrown under coup forms. When he returned from exile abroad for the 2014 elections, he was placed under house arrest. According to the Rajaonarimampianina, this measure was now unnecessary as Ravalomanana recognized the legitimacy of the current government.
However, political turmoil in the country continued during 2015 when the parliament voted in May with a large majority for Rajaonarimampianina to be deposed in a judicial process. The vote came as a surprise to many, but in May it became clear that the president had no stable support among MPs. The president accused the parliamentarians of risking the stability of the country and suggested that the dissatisfaction was due to certain privileges, such as new cars, not benefiting them. He also questioned the validity of the vote, claiming that there were not as many MEPs in the House at the time of the vote as the total number of votes cast.
In June, the country’s constitutional court annulled Parliament’s decision to bring Rajaonarimampianina to court. According to the court, the referendum lacked legal basis and found that the president had not acted in a manner contrary to the constitution. In the same month, Madagascar was one of 27 African countries that agreed on a new free trade agreement, the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The agreement was signed in Egypt and includes countries from Egypt in the north to South Africa in the south. For the agreement to enter into force, it must, among other things, be ratified by the national parliaments.
The tourism sector in the country has struggled with problems since the coup in 2009. The fact that varieties of the dreaded plague disease still exist on the island contributed to the visitor numbers did not reach the expected. Deaths from both lung plague and bohemian plague were reported during the year.