By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 18 --
After Andry
Rajoelina of
Madagascar met
with UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
Friday
afternoon,
Inner City
Press
asked him
about the
seeming
failure to put
in place the
measures
prescribed in
the road map
(especially
Articles 16,
17, 18, and
20)
that would
seem important
for assuring
the likelihood
that elections
would be free
and fair.
Rajoelina
replied
that a Prime
Minister from
the opposition
had been named
and,
in essence,
that the road
map had been
complied with
-- which seems
to be the
French
position too
-- and that
elections
should be held
as
soon as
possible.
But
it seems that
Prime Minister
recently sent
a letter to
the minister
of justice
ordering her
to implement
Article 16
("terminating
the ongoing
legal
proceedings
against
members of the
opposition
that would
appear
to be
politically
motivated").
So far the
minister of
justice
is balking,
putting
conditions on
the
implementation
of Article 16
that are not
found in the
road map.
So,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
at the noon
briefing on
Friday, what
will the Ban's
UN do? Push
for elections
without the
conditions in
place that
would seem
important for
elections to
be truly free
and fair?
Nesirky
said he
was "asking"
for a read out
of the
meeting.
Meanwhile
Rajoelina said
that the
former
president has
not be given
amnesty; he
said again and
again,
elections as
fast as
possible.
We'll see.
Update of May 21, 2012: Ban's associate spokesman Farhan Haq told Inner City Press there will be no read out, as part of the meeting was "tete a tete."
