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Malagasy Revolutionary Party Antoko Revolisionera Malagasy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | AREMA |
| National Secretary | Annick Zoary Ratsiraka |
| Founder | Didier Ratsiraka |
| Founded | 30 November 1976 (48 years, 329 days) |
| Headquarters | Antananarivo |
| Membership(1995) | 455,000 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position |
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| National Assembly | 0 / 151 |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheMalagasy Revolutionary Party, better known by itsMalagasyacronymAREMA (fromAntokoRevolisioneraMalagasy), is apolitical party inMadagascar. It was theruling party of theDemocratic Republic of Madagascar, a one-partysocialist state, from 1976 to 1992, when it was known as theVanguard of the Malagasy Revolution (French:Avant-garde de la Révolution Malgache; Malagasy:Antokin'ny Revolisiona Malagasy,lit. 'Guarantor of the Malagasy Revolution'). The party has gone through three name changes since, although it has never changed its acronym AREMA.
"AREMA" was originally an acronym derived from the party's Malagasy andFrench names:Antokin'ny Revolisiona Malagasy (lit. 'Guarantor of the Malagasy Revolution') in Malagasy andAvant-garde de la Révolution Malgache (lit. 'Vanguard of the Malagasy Revolution') in French.
Sometime around 2001, the party changed its Malagasy name toAndry sy rihana enti-manavotra an'i Madagasikara (lit. 'Pillars and Foundations to Save Madagascar') and its French name toAvant-garde pour la rénovation de Madagascar (lit. 'Vanguard for the Renovation of Madagascar'). Although the acronym "AREMA" was maintained in both Malagasy and French, the meaning of the party's name differed between the two languages. The party later changed its French name toAssociation pour la renaissance de Madagascar, the acronym "AREMA" now also applying to the party's English name, Association for the Rebirth of Madagascar.
In 2020 the party adopted the Malagasy nameAntoko Revolisionera Malagasy (lit. 'Malagasy Revolutionary Party') for all its official publications, including those in French.
The party was founded on 30 March 1976 as the Vanguard of the Malagasy Revolution, the main political alliance of presidentDidier Ratsiraka. It held the majority of seats in the parliament until the fall of the Ratsiraka regime in 1991.
AREMA had 455,000 registered members in 1995.[1]
In the elections to the Senate held on 18 March 2001, AREMA won 49 of the 60 elected seats.
In theparliamentary election held on 15 December 2002, AREMA won 4.9% of the popular vote and 3 out of 160 seats in theNational Assembly, all three inToamasina Province.
Pierrot Rajaonarivelo was elected national secretary at a party congress on 29 November 1997.[2][3] He has been exiled in France since 2002 and has been convicted and sentencedin absentia. Ramaholimasy holds the position while Rajaonarivelo is out of the country.
Currently, AREMA is divided into two antagonistic factions: those behind Rajaonarivelo and those who claim to be supported by the party founder, Ratsiraka.
Rajaonarivelo sought to run in theDecember 2006 presidential election, but was not allowed to enter the country.
The Ratsiraka faction of the party chose not to participate in theSeptember 2007 parliamentary election, while the Rajaonarivelo faction chose to participate. The Ratsiraka faction sought to prevent the Rajaonarivelo faction's participation, but on 23 August the High Constitutional Court ruled that the Rajaonarivelo faction could participate.[4] AREMA did not win any seats in the election.
AREMA's current national secretary, Simon Pierre, and six deputy national secretaries were elected during the party congress on 12 June 2013.[5][needs update]
As the ruling party of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar, AREMA espousedcommunism and adhered toMarxism–Leninism andscientific socialism. The party maintained close relations with othercommunist parties around the world, particularly theWorkers' Party of Korea. Ratsiraka expressed strong sympathies and support for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). AREMA hosted the International Scientific Seminar on theJuche Idea inAntananarivo from 28 to 30 September 1976. Many prominent party and government officials, public figures, representatives of revolutionary and progressive organizations, scientists and journalists from more than fifty countries attended.
After the dissolution of the Democratic Republic of Madagascar and the country's adoption of amulti-party system, AREMA began to move towards a more moderate left position. The party currently describes itself as "a humanist and ecological social democratic party". The stated goals of the party are to "build healthy and solid foundations for the construction of a social democracy which guarantees sustained and sustainable growth", and to "consolidate and maintain the independence of Madagascar and the freedom of the Malagasy people, for a just and equitable nation".[6]
| Election | Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First round | Second round | |||||
| 1982 | Didier Ratsiraka | 3,192,156 | 80.16% | — | — | Elected Y |
| 1989 | 2,891,333 | 62.71% | — | — | ElectedY | |
| 1992–93 | 1,260,193 | 28.59% | 1,378,640 | 33.26% | Lost N | |
| 1996 | 1,321,388 | 36.61% | 1,608,321 | 50.71% | ElectedY | |
| 2001 | 1,701,094 | 40.61% | — | — | LostN | |
| 2018 | 22,222 | 0.45% | — | — | LostN | |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | (in joint list with theCPIM,MCDU, andPMNU) | 92% | 112 / 137 |  112 | 1st |
| 1983 | 2,239,771 | 65.26% | 117 / 137 | 5 |  1st |
| 1989 | 2,785,448 | 66.84% | 120 / 137 | 3 | 1st |
| 1993 | Did not contest | 0 / 134 |  120 | N/A | |
| 1998 | 24.74% | 63 / 150 | 63 | 1st | |
| 2002 | 189,539 | 4.90% | 3 / 160 | 60 | 3rd |
