wfn.org | WCC concerned about unrest in Madagascar

["Sheila Mesa" <smm@wcc-coe.org>]

World Council of Churches
Press Release, PR-02-03
For Immediate Use
25 January 2002

World Council of Churches concerned about unrest in the wake of
presidential elections in Madagascar

As demonstrations continue against the preliminary results of
the presidential elections in Madagascar, the deputy general
secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Georges
Lemopoulos, has urged the country's political authorities to
ensure that the democratic process is fully respected.  

"We ask those responsible for maintaining public order to
refrain from using violent methods to contain or prevent
expressions of popular feeling," Lemopoulos writes in his open
letter of Friday 25 January to the leaders of WCC member churches
in Madagascar.  

Lemopoulos also expresses appreciation of the role played by the
churches which have worked for peaceful and democratic elections:
 "Few churches in Africa have such a wealth of experience in
mediating between the people and the political authorities, or
are as well equipped as you to fulfil this role."  

Protests broke out in the Madagascan capital of Antananarivo
after the preliminary results of the presidential election were
issued on 16 December.  The demonstrators accuse the government
of rigging the results of the poll in favour of the incumbent
president, Didier Ratsiraka.  

The official results will be published by the country's High
Constitutional Court on Monday 28 January.  

The full text of the letter follows:

"The World Council of Churches has been following the debate
around the presidential election in Madagascar with growing
concern, and notes the anger of a large section of the Malagasy
people.  We know how much effort you, the 
leaders of our member churches, have put into accompanying the
electoral process to ensure that it took place peacefully and
that the will of the people as expressed in the polls would be
respected.  Few churches in Africa have such a wealth of
experience in mediating between the people and the political
authorities, or are as well equipped as you to fulfil this role. 

We understand that the High Constitutional Court has announced
that it will publish the official results of the first round of
the presidential election on Monday 28 January, that it has
refused to take account of information gathered by the National
Electoral Commission (NEC), and that the possibility of a
decision cancelling a second round of voting is causing mass
demonstrations in Antananarivo and the provinces. We realize that
this worrying situation could erupt into a major political crisis
that would be difficult to control and damaging for the country
and its people.  

Through this open letter, we urge the political authorities in
Madagascar to do all in their power to ensure that the democratic
process is fully respected. We ask those responsible for
maintaining public order to refrain from using violent methods to
contain or prevent expressions of popular feeling.  

Please be assured of our solidarity and our prayers for you, and
for the Malagasy people and their political leaders at this
testing time.  We are ready to do all we can to help you in your
efforts for a future of social and political peace and harmony in
your beloved country."  

For further information, please contact Karin Achtelstetter,
Media Relations Officer,
Tel.:  (+41.22) 791.61.53   Mobile:  (+41) 79.284.52.12

**********
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a fellowship of churches,
now 342, in more than 100 countries in all continents from
virtually all Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church is
not a member church but works cooperatively with the WCC. The
highest governing body is the assembly, which meets approximately
every seven years. The WCC was formally inaugurated in 1948 in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Its staff is headed by general
secretary Konrad Raiser from the Evangelical Church in Germany.

World Council of Churches
Media Relations Office
Tel: (41 22) 791 6153 / 791 6421
Fax: (41 22) 798 1346
E-mail: ka@wcc-coe.org 
Web: www.wcc-coe.org 

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