Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ in the Presbyterian Church (USA),

Greetings in the name of our Lord! We trust all is well with you. We rejoice in our work together to witness to the Lord and bring His kingdom here to Madagascar.

We your brothers and sisters in Christ from the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM) have a request to make of you on behalf of our nation. We ask you this as the largest protestant church in Madagascar with over 4000 congregations and 2 million members. We are also a member of the FFKM, the Malagasy ecumenical church council made up of the 4 largest churches in Madagascar: Catholic, FJKM, Lutheran, and Anglican. These churches have a combined membership of 6 million people, over 1/3 of the country's population.

As you may know, Madagascar had a presidential election on 16 December 2001. The FJKM and the FFKM have long been working to ensure free and fair elections in Madagascar. At this time, many events have transpired that concern us and threaten the democratic outcome of this election. And so now we humbly seek your help and prayer.

Below we share some of the events surrounding the election so that you might better understand what has happened and why we are concerned. There were 6 candidates in this election, the leading two being Didier Ratsiraka (current President) and Marc Ravalomanana. (Mayor of the capital city Antananarivo and lay vice-president of FJKM). While the government refused to have any international observers, it did permit a national non-partisan consortium to monitor the elections at each voting station. The FJKM was a member of this consortium. The consortium received financial backing from several European donors, Japan, and the USA. While the consortium attempted to place election monitors at every voting station, the government thwarted this attempt by not making available the number and location of voting stations until after the election was over. At this time, there is a discrepancy of over 1000 voting stations between Madagascar's High Constitutional Court's count and the government's count.

Immediately following voting at each voting station, the votes were counted in front of the state representative, a representative of the consortium, and a representative of each candidate. By law each candidate could have a representative present. Each representative observing the count received a signed voting record from that station. Hence there could be as many as 8 identical copies from each station (one per candidate, consortium, and state).

There were many irregularities during the campaign period, on election day, and in the days following the election. The consortium documented numerous cases in which President Ratsiraka broke electoral laws and in which the state committed fraud and intimidated the people. Soon after the election, different results were reported. With the voting records available to them, the consortium reported that Ravalomanana received 50.5% of the vote, the FFKM reported Ravalomanana received 51.1%, and Ravalomanana's own party reported that he received 52.5% of the vote. The government, however, reported 46.4% of the vote going to Ravalomanana. By Malagasy law, any candidate receiving more than 50% of the vote wins on the first round. If no candidate receives 50%, then a second round between the top two candidates is required.

Because of the discrepancies, the consortium brought a request to compare the different voting records before the High Constitutional Court (HCC), Madagascar's Supreme Court. It also presented a case to disqualify Ratsiraka for numerous violations of the electoral laws, including the illegal use of state funds to finance his campaign. The Malagasy people began demonstrating peacefully in early January 2002 to ask the HCC to compare the voting records so that the truth could be found. On 7 January, soldiers assaulted a peaceful crowd of eighty thousand demonstrators with tear gas and grenades for two hours. While many were injured, the crowd did not disperse. Since that time, there have been no further acts of violence against demonstrators in the capital city.

On 25 January, the HCC ruled that Ravalomanana received 46.2% of the vote and that a second election would be held February 24th with the campaign period beginning February 9th. The HCC threw out the accusations of electoral fraud brought against Ratsiraka. It also refused to compare any of the voting records held by the consortium, FFKM and Ravalomanana with those of the state. In addition, many of the voting records presented by the HCC indicate that the HCC itself committed electoral fraud. Given these actions of the HCC (the highest legal body in the land), the opposition movement decided that it would not participate in the second round of elections unless the voting records from the first round are compared to ensure fraud-free results. When the HCC refused to compare the results, Ravalomanana called for nationwide demonstrations and strikes. The airport, banks and many businesses have closed to honor the opposition's request. Last week over 500,000 people marched peacefully in the capital city every day to show their support for Ravalomanana and the democratic process. People all over Madagascar have been praying and peacefully demonstrating. Over the last month, millions of people all over the island have sacrificed and quit work to demonstrate their desire to have their votes fairly counted and to have a president who is elected by the majority of the people and not by voter fraud. Many of these people are poor, but they believe in their right to elect their leader regardless of economic or educational status.

Last week several international governments including France and the United States called for a second election based on the HCC's results. There was no mention of the need to compare the voting records from the first election. The United States called for the second round election to be conducted in such a manner as to ensure a "free, fair and credible election outcome" and that the election dispute be resolved in accordance with "democratic principles, the rule of law, and the Malagasy constitution." As the highest legal body in Madagascar is implicated in electoral fraud, the terms "free, fair and credible election" and "democratic principles" on one hand and "the rule of law and the Malagasy constitution" on the other, are contradictory in the eyes of the Malagasy people. By asking all parties concerned to respect the decision of the High Constitutional Court, it appears to the Malagasy people that the United States is siding with fraud over fairness and repression over democracy and the will of the people. This confuses people as the United States is seen as a champion for justice and democracy.

On Monday February 4th, nearly 1,500,000 people marched peacefully in protest in the capital city alone. With or without the support of the international community, the Malagasy people will stand firm for free and fair elections, democracy, and the government's acceptance of the will of the people. What is going on in Madagascar is truly a fight to have the democratic process honored. Support from the international community can help reduce the potential for violent repression of the peaceful demonstrations and hasten the advent of a fairly elected government.

We would like to ask you to: Pray with the Malagasy people: that demonstrations remain peaceful and bear fruit quickly. That Ratsiraka's government acknowledges the legitimate will of the people and does not send the military against the people. That the international communities show wisdom in their attempts to support the democratic process in Madagascar. That justice prevails.

Contact your elected representatives and government officials. Please help your government understand that the best way to support the democratic process in Madagascar is to call for a comparison of the voting records from the December 16 election to ensure that the will of the Malagasy people be honored. Ask the United States to issue a statement calling for a comparison of the first round's voting records and that a second round be held only if the comparison shows that no candidate received 50% or more of the vote.

Thank you for joining with us in this time of need. May God's words in Amos 5:24 be fulfilled in our nation. " But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an everflowing stream."

May the peace of our Lord bless you as a church and a nation.

In the name of our Lord,

Reverend Edmond Razafimahefa
President of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM)