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O 071503Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANTANANARIVO 001369 
 
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DEPT FOR AF/E, AF/FO, INR/AA, AND DRL 
PARIS FOR D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM EAID PHUM PINR MA
SUBJECT: ELECTION DAY ATMOSPHERE IN TAMATAVE 
 
 
ANTANANARI 00001369  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
REFTEL:  ANTANANARIVO 1364 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (U) BACKGROUND:  Madagascar is an island, but it is also a large 
and diverse country, home to 18 major tribal groups.  There is 
considerable variation in the practice of democracy from region to 
region and between urban and rural voters; a fact quite apparent in 
the December 3 presidential election.  Thus this message should not 
be taken as indicative of the process in Madagascar as a whole, but 
offers a flavor of Malagasy politics on election day in Foulepointe 
and Fenerive Est, medium-sized towns near the regional capital of 
Tamatave on Madagascar's east coast.  It was drafted by a member of 
a U.S. Mission election observation unit, one of 25 teams scattered 
throughout the country to help assure that Madagascar's electoral 
process would be free, fair and transparent. 
 
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM? 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶2. (U) Although widely predicted to be the potential epicenter of 
election-related violence, the historically troublesome Tamatave 
Province (home base of presidential candidate Roland Ratsiraka and 
his uncle, former President Didier Ratsiraka), was calm December 2, 
the eve of the election.  With barely a campaign poster in sight, 
the coastal towns seemed more focused on the upcoming litchi 
harvest; the dusty streets were full of "pousse-pousse" (rickshaws) 
carting around foreigners intent on loading their cargo destined for 
Europe.  Contacts from various sectors acknowledged, "All is calm," 
but categorically added the caveat, "At least for now. You never 
know what people will do after the results are announced." 
 
ALL QUIET ON ELECTION DAY 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (U) When our observation team arrived at the first polling 
station at 0700 on election day, the queue of voters already snaked 
around the side of the one-room schoolhouse.  The station president 
gravely shook our hands and showed us how his staff had carefully 
set out the election materials -- save for the plastic ballot box 
still in six pieces on the floor.  Officials crowded around to 
figure out how to assemble the box, quickly followed by voters who 
poured in from outside to shout advice.  Thirty minutes and a few 
bruised egos later, the box was assembled, locked, and in place. 
One by one, the mostly barefoot voters shuffled into the room: old 
men wearing straw hats and ill-fitting suit jackets, women with 
babies perched on their hips, families in their Sunday best on the 
way to church, and young men clad in ripped t-shirts.  Polling 
officials prodded the voters into a scraggly line, where they 
patiently awaited their turn to present their voter cards, select 
one ballot paper for each of the ten candidates represented (smaller 
versions of the candidates' campaign posters), and then go behind 
the tattered sheet serving as a secret voting booth.  Proud voters 
emerged holding nothing but the envelope containing their ballot 
which they dropped into the ballot box, but bulges under their 
shirts and waistbands suggested the unused ballots would be taken 
home as souvenirs or toys for the children. 
 
¶4. (U) At the following 13 polling stations, we saw the same fairly 
orderly process with slight variations.  Voting locations were at 
best small concrete schoolhouses, and at worst ramshackle huts 
covered with palm fronds.  Squeezing into the child-sized desks and 
rickety benches reserved for observers, we watched the voters file 
into secret ballot booths carefully constructed of tattered sheets, 
sheet metal, straw, scraps of wood, and -- in one case -- an old 
bicycle frame. Chickens and cattle mingled with waiting voters, who 
stood through rain showers under colorful umbrellas or beneath 
nearby trees.  Those closer to the door excitedly jammed up against 
the windows to watch the proceedings inside.  And without fail, we 
were welcomed with the same seriousness and courtesy by the polling 
station president and officials. 
 
¶5. (U) In the course of our observations, we came across one of the 
observers from the Committee of National Election Observers (CNOE) 
who had received advanced training from the National Democratic 
Institute (NDI) financed by the USG.  His attention to detail was 
impressive, as he pointed out apparently minor discrepancies 
regarding the total number of voters on the last page of every 
polling station's voter registration list. 
 
ETHNIC RIVALRY PALPABLE, ESPECIALLY AFTER DARK 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6. (SBU) The ethnic rivalry between those living on the coast 
("Cotier") and those living on the "haut plateau" (including the 
 
ANTANANARI 00001369  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
historically dominant Merina tribe) was more palpable on the coast 
than in the capital city of Antananarivo.  Contacts cautioned us 
that hate of the haut plateau runs strong around Tamatave.  In our 
first few hours on the ground, our driver was approached by a group 
of men on the street who warned him to remove his Ravalomanana 
t-shirt, "or else."  Contacts shrugged their shoulders when 
questioned about rumors that certain neighborhoods in Tamatave had 
agreed to set fire to the homes of Ravalomanana supporters if he won 
in the first round, saying, "We always hear such things."  Yet, at 
the same time, they explained to us how people in small towns along 
the coast are easily manipulated and agitated.  They also described 
how acts of political violence on the coast are directed at persons, 
whereas around Antananarivo targets are more often official 
institutions.  Since political conflicts in 1991, Tamatave residents 
have seen occasional incidents of people setting their neighbors' 
houses ablaze for supporting the "wrong" candidate or political 
party; or merely for being from the haut plateau. 
 
¶7. (U) The vote counts we observed were most indicative of these 
sentiments.  Lacking electricity, many coastal residents poured out 
of their homes to watch the vote count as their Sunday night 
entertainment.  The reaction of the raucous crowds pressed up 
against the polling station windows was reminiscent of a sporting 
match.  As we observed by candlelight, each time the counter thrust 
a ballot high in the air and called the candidate's name, his 
announcement was greeted by screams of support or jeers from the 
crowd.  It was no surprise that Roland Ratsiraka was the crowd's 
favorite, but we were slightly jarred by the reaction of some people 
to his ballot papers set on a red background: "Red! Red is for 
blood! We want blood! Give us more blood!"  They then taunted the 
highland observers in our election observation unit.  While these 
comments made them uncomfortable, at no point did they feel their 
safety was at risk. 
 
¶8. (U) At another vote count, at least 80 people had managed to push 
their way in to fill every corner of the polling station, even 
standing on chairs and window ledges.  As our observation team tried 
to push its way into the room, we were stopped at the door by a 
powerful wave of body heat and odor that made it impossible to 
enter.  With gendarmes standing nearby, this crowd's reaction to the 
vote count (especially Ratsiraka ballots) was even more vigorous 
than the first: jumping and dancing, waving banners, pushing, and 
screaming competing political songs and slogans.  Our colleagues 
from Antananarivo  characterized the coastal people's emotional 
reaction as a call to "take back power" from the Merina. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
¶9. (SBU) Overall, we were impressed by the seriousness of election 
preparations and voter participation, although the officials had 
clearly received inadequate training.  In contrast to U.S. voters 
removed from the counting process as television viewers, the 
Malagasy take a front-row seat.  While we take the ominous 
undertones of our conversations and observations as election day 
hyperbole and a natural byproduct of regional rivalries, we will 
still watch this region closely as the announcement of results draws 
near.  END COMMENT. 
 
MCGEE