Mayhem in Madagascar: High Transitional Authority, 2009 MADAGASCAR

In early 2009, Madagascar’s fragile democracy collapsed, strained from the burden of many factors. It happened as quick as in a flash in the pan. Andry Rajoelina, the young former mayor of Antananarivo, forced president Marc Ravalomanana from power (with the backing of military forces) in what the international community is lambasting as a coup. Foreign aid has been frozen, Madagascar’s seat in the African Union is frozen, and parliament is left powerless to rectify any issue. In the chaos the High Transitional Authority, the current governing body, is left to hold things together with little institutional legitimacy, resources, or a clear path forward.

Delegates must be prepared to enter one of the most turbulent periods in Madagascar’s modern history. The Authority inherits a country already battling deep poverty and food insecurity. Now it must also manage internal power struggles, pressure from the international community, and a population that has no reason as of yet to buy into this government and any promises it makes.

Each delegate will be responsible for navigating the overlapping crises that defined this period: corruption rotting away the systems of Madagascar, an agricultural economy on the brink of collapse, and a historically robust environment that finds itself under grave threat from pervasive and illegal logging and mining companies. None of these problems exists in isolation, so delegates must be aware not only of how they might go about solving a singular problem, but also ensure the byproducts are beneficial.

Political shocks, economic disruptions, and environmental emergencies will demand delegates make fast decisions, even if they must be conducted with incomplete information. Delegates will work both collectively and individually in the frontroom to shape what this government becomes and decide whether it can hold together long enough to matter, while pursuing their machiavellian ulterior motives in the backroom.