Madagascar: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY – Debate over Christine Razanamahasoa’s interim

Less than two months before the legislative elections, the National Assembly has no president since the removal of Christine Razanamahasoa. Her replacement is not yet known.

Who will replace Christine Razanamahasoa, the ousted president of the National Assembly? This is the question that is being asked within political circles. A few days after her removal from the presidency and the status of MP of Madagascar, the vacancy left by the elected representative of Ambatofinandrahana should ideally find a new occupant. At least until the end of this mandate and the arrival of new parliamentarians.

Article 17 of the rules of procedure of the lower house stipulates that “The vice-presidents shall act on behalf of the President when necessary. The order of substitution is established by the President. The order of precedence of the vice-presidents shall be determined by age.”

According to this article, the interim presidency at Tsimbazaza will be taken over by the vice-president of the province of Toliara, Jean Jacques Rabenirina. It is worth recalling that initially, he was elected under the banner of the IRD, but over time, he has sided with the opposition by becoming pro-Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko.

The Secretary General of the National Assembly, Andriamitarijato Calvin Randriamahafanjary, and the MP Paulbert Velontsara, president of the IRD parliamentary group, support the application of this Article 17. However, the article in question does not provide more details on the reason for the substitution. This can vary from the absence of the president of the chamber to the vacancy in the position. Currently, after the removal of Christine Razanamahasoa, there is a vacancy. On the powers of the interim president, the Secretary General explains that whoever takes on the role will be responsible for current affairs. “In principle, they could convene a meeting of the permanent bureau, but for the meeting of the Chamber, it must be decreed,” he said yesterday.

Ordinary session

During the last extraordinary session in parliament, the president of the lower house was absent and Naivo Raholdina, MP for the Tana V district and vice-president of the Chamber for the province of Antananarivo, was her substitute. However, he is not the oldest of the vice-presidents in the permanent bureau.

At that time, the rules of Article 17 were not followed to the letter. Paulbert Velontsara argues that at that time, the Assembly was in a normal situation. But currently, the situation is different, which is why the article in question must be applied. He also explains that nothing has been decided on this point at the moment.

As for the extraordinary session, Christine Razanamahasoa simply exercised her right granted by paragraph 2 of Article 21 of the same internal regulations, which states that “in the interval between sessions, in the absence of the president, he may delegate his powers to represent him and ensure the dispatch of current affairs to one of the vice-presidents.” This explains why Naivo Raholdina was at the helm instead of the dean of the permanent bureau.

Less than two months before the legislative elections and a few months before the end of the deputies’ mandate, the main task awaiting the National Assembly is the holding of the first ordinary session of the year. To this end, the session is scheduled to begin on the second Tuesday of May for a duration of sixty days. However, the legislative elections on May 29 will take place in the middle of the first session.

Which could be an obstacle to holding the session. So far, the holding or not of the ordinary session remains unknown. Before last year’s presidential election, after the opening of the session, it was interrupted because most MPs went on the election campaign trail. The meeting only resumed some time after the election date.

Ravo Andriantsalama