SUMMARY
Situated off the south-eastern coast of the African continent, the former French island colony of Madagascar became a French territory in 1946. In 1947, a pro-independence rebellion was quashed, and it was not until 1960 that Madagascar gained independence. Since then, Madagascar has experienced periods of both democratic and military rule, and seen significant episodes of political turmoil as well as episodes of organized violence.
Since 1989, Madagascar has experienced the non-state and one-sided categories of organized violence, as defined by UCDP.
Two Power Struggles, Two Violent Episodes
Madagascar was untouched by organized violence as defined by the UCDP from 1989 to 2001. In 2002, there was a peak in organized violence as a non-state conflict between Supporters of Didier Ratsiraka and Supporters of Marc Ravalomanana erupted, caused by the contested national election in December 2001.
By 2001, president Ratsiraka had ruled the country for over 20 years when his power was challenged in a late-year election by the mayor of the Madagascan capital, Ravalomanana. Despite an announcement by the government that neither candidate had reached the 50 percent-threshold in the first round of elections, Ravalomanana declared himself president on 22 February 2002, claiming that he had indeed received more than 50 percent of the cast votes. The same day, Ratsiraka declared a 3-month state-of-emergency, and subsequently imposed martial law in the final days of February. It was at this time that the non-state conflict between Supporters of Didier Ratsiraka and Supporters of Marc Ravalomanana began. Supporters of the two candidates clashed with deadly results several times a month until early July when the violence ceased and the conflict ended. The place that saw the most lethal violence was the town of Fiarantsoa, but fatalities occurred in many other urban areas as well.
After fighting died down in July 2002, the following years were characterized by relative calm. However, in 2009, the country saw a new, higher, peak in fatalities from organized violence, stemming from a combination of non-state conflict and one-sided violence. First, a new non-conflict between Supporters of Andry Rajoelina (elected mayor of the capital of Madagascar in 2007), and Supporters of Marc Ravalomanana (president of Madagascar since 2002) broke out as Rajoelina attempted to seize power. Most fatalities in this conflict occurred as groups of protesters of the different factions clashed in the streets of towns around the country. Just as the non-state conflict had commenced, the government engaged in one-sided violence against civilians protesting against it in Antananarivo, resulting in a number of fatalities. The non-state conflict ended in March of the same year as Rajoelina emerged victorious from the power struggle, becoming the head of a transitional executive body that would rule the country until 2014.
State-based violence prior to 1989
MDRM Rebellion of 1947
An extra-state conflict against the French colonial power broke out in Madagascar in March of 1947. The insurgency was attributed to MDRM (Mouvement démocratique pour la rénovation Malgache, Democratic Movement for Malagasy Renewal), but JINA (Jeunesse nationale, National Youth) and PANAMA (Parti nationaliste Malgache, Malagasy National Party), two clandestine pro-independence societies, probably supplied much of the planning and leadership. JINA and PANAMA overlapped the MDRM in membership and took advantage of the more legitimate political party to spread a radical message to the Malagasy population.The rebellion was put down by French troops the same year. The French subsequently disbanded MDRM and suspended all native political participation in Madagascar.
MONIMA Rebellion of 1971
Beginning in the mid-1950s, Madagascar gradually gained more autonomy and was granted independence in 1960, although the French maintained a strong political, economic and military presence on the island. Philibert Tsiranana was elected president in the newly independent country. Following a period of economic recession in the 1960s, a former pro-independence movement, the Maoist MONIMA (Mouvement national pour l’independence de Madagascar, later renamed Madagasikara Otronin’ny Malagasy, Madagascar supported by the Malagasy), united the impoverished peasants in the southern Tuléar province that were hit by famine and diseases. Under the leadership of MONIMA they turned against the Tsiranana government in April 1971 in protest against the efforts of the government to maintain taxation levels in the region. However, the poorly organised rebels were quickly defeated. Following the intrastate conflict, which only lasted a few days, the Malagasy government destroyed and banned MONIMA.
