Sixth Ordinary Session of the

Central Organ of the OAU Mechanism

for Conflict Prevention, Management

and Resolution, at the Level of Heads                                                             

of State and Government

21 June 2002

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

         Central Organ/MEC/AHG/Comm.(VI)

                      Original: ENGLISH

COMMUNIQUÉ

COMMUNIQUÉ of the SIXTH ordinary session of THE

Central Organ of the OAU Mechanism for conflict

 prevention, management and resolution AT THE

LEVEL OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21 June 2002

The Central Organ of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution held its Sixth Ordinary Session at the level of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 21 June 2002, to review the situation in Madagascar and consider the ways by which the OAU could continue its efforts aimed at finding a lasting and negotiated solution to the crisis in Madagascar.

At the end of its deliberations, the Central Organ:

1.                 expressed its grave concern over the crisis which persists in Madagascar and its socio-economic and humanitarian consequences, and the threat it constituted to national unity and cohesion and the territorial integrity of Madagascar;

2.                 reiterated its commitment to the unity and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Madagascar;

3.                 reaffirmed its commitment to the Algiers Decision of July 1999 and the Lome Declaration of July 2000, which were adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU on Unconstitutional Changes of Government;

4.                 Paid tribute to the current Chairman of the OAU, President Levy Patrick Mwanawasa of the Republic of Zambia, President Abdoulaye Wade of the Republic of Senegal, and other Heads of State Members of the Committee of Facilitators, the OAU Secretary General and the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary General for their sustained efforts aimed at finding a peaceful and negotiated solution to the crisis in Madagascar which led to the signing by Mr. Didier Ratsiraka and Mr. Marc Ravalomanana of the Dakar Agreement of 18 April 2002 and the subsequent proposal for resolving the crisis, put forward during the Dakar II meeting of 8 and 9 June 2002:

5.                 STRESSED the need for a political and negotiated solution to the crisis through:

a.                  The holding, with the assistance of the UN, the OAU, the EU and the international community at large, of free and fair elections to enable the people of Madagascar choose their leader;

b.                 The setting up of transitional arrangements, the modalities of which should be agreed upon by both parties.

6.                 Reiterated its support to the Dakar Agreement of 18 April 2002, which constitutes an appropriate framework for the resolution of the crisis.  In this regard, and given the legal and procedural problems encountered in the implementation of the preambular paragraph and Article 1 of the Agreement concerning the recounting of the votes, urged both parties to work out the specific modalities for the transitional arrangements based on the spirit of the Dakar Agreement and subsequent consultations;

7.                 The Central Organ considered that the elections held in Madagascar on 16 December 2001 did not result in a constitutional and legally constituted Government.  It, therefore, recommended to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, that in the meantime neither Mr. Ratsiraka nor Mr. Ravalomanana governments should be allowed to represent the Republic of Madagascar at the OAU.  Consequently, the seat of the Republic of Madagascar should remain vacant until such a time that a Government was established according to the provisions of this communiqué;

8.                 The Central Organ requested the Current Chairman and the Committee of Facilitators to continue to assist the parties to achieve a lasting solution to the crisis in Madagascar until the forthcoming OAU-AU Summit in Durban;

9.                 urged Mr. Didier Ratsiraka and Mr. Marc Ravalomanana as well as their followers to cooperate fully with the OAU Committee, to exercise maximum restraint and do their utmost to restore peace, national unity and cohesion, and the territorial integrity of Madagascar as well as promote a spirit of dialogue and accommodation in the country.  In particular, the Central Organ requested the two leaders to do their utmost to put an immediate end, and without any preconditions, to the roadblocks throughout the country, to disband militias, to put an end to all forms of violence and hostilities and to release all the people who had been arrested as a result of the ongoing crisis;

10.             Appealed to the International Community to continue to support the efforts of the OAU and the process of national reconciliation as would be agreed upon by the two parties.  The Central Organ further appealed to the International community to continue to provide the much need humanitarian assistance to the people of Madagascar.

Done in Addis Ababa on, 21 June 2002