Andry Rajoelina is threatened with dismissal proceedings: he is accused of having obtained French nationality in November 2014.
In Madagascar, everyone can have dual nationality, including the Head of State, the only condition is to have it from birth, by descent. On the other hand, once you are of age, if you apply for another nationality, you lose your Malagasy nationality. It’s the law. However, this is the case of the president, who became French late, at the age of 40, on November 19, 2014.
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Except that this information, of course, is not made public. It is true that it does not fit very well with the image of nationalist leader of Andry Rajoelina, who regularly claims to be very firm with respect to the former colonial power.
A secret out
This information had never been made public until last week, when an anonymous hand sent the media (including the daily Le Monde) an authenticated copy of the official journal which contained the naturalization of Andry Rajoelina (that of his wife and of his children), signed by the Prime Minister at the time, Manuel Valls.
And that changes everything. This means that in 2014, by becoming French, Ange Rajoelina lost his Malagasy nationality. So he should never have run for the 2018 presidential election. On the big island, the opposition is choking with anger and indignation. She denounces atreason“, a “moral fault“. The MMM (Malagasy Miara-Miainga) party is demanding explanations on a “subject that offends the sovereignty of the Malagasy who have been betrayed”.
This favor was part of a package. It would have been awarded to him in exchange for his temporary withdrawal from political life. Andry Rajoelina, the businessman with the charming smile, had come to power four years earlier thanks to a coup d’etat, he had to step aside to allow the country to turn the page on the transition. During this period, he therefore came to live in France … before returning to the Malagasy arena for the 2018 election.
A president in no hurry to oppose France
In any case, these revelations about his French nationality shed new light on a certain number of his political decisions. For example the fact that he has still not obtained any progress in the thorny issue of the Scattered Islands, which Madgascar claims, but which are still under French sovereignty… Or his desire to borrow money from the France for a cable car project built by French companies.
For the moment, his relatives are doing everything they can to extinguish the fuse… They play on the interpretation of the texts of laws to drag things out. Avoid filing a complaint with a court of first instance in Antananarivo, the constitution of a parliamentary commission of inquiry which could lead to a dismissal procedure.
His chief of staff, Romy Voos Andrianarisoa, interviewed by Le Monde, explains that Andry Rajoelina East “born of Malagasy father and mother, has been French since his great-grandfather and by affiliation and that he fully assumes both nationalities”. His opponents hope to disqualify him for the next presidential election, scheduled for November. He does not intend to give them this pleasure.