It has become a simple routine. Everyone calls it whatever they want: Independence Day, Republic Day, National Day… “Independence Day” is unquestionably inappropriate, given that we have never truly been independent. It was a poisoned gift at a time when maintaining colonized countries became a burden for the colonizing powers, largely due to the geopolitical trends of the 1960s in Africa. Independence was granted when the former colonies were not yet prepared to handle the situation. It was more of a trap designed to ensure eternal dependence, permanent aid, and infinite hand-outs.
These nations lacked sufficient infrastructure, such as roads, industries, senior executives, technicians, and expertise. As proof, we still cannot manufacture matches or toothpicks, importing them from countries that do not even have a third of the forest area of Madagascar. Anything positive left by colonization vanished with nationalization, to the point that state-owned companies had to be privatized after they became ghost entities.
Independence was never effective, and sovereignty only served to boost national pride whenever foreigners tried to meddle in our affairs.
“Republic Day” is only accurate on paper and in history. It is no one’s fault, as the motto of the Republic changes with every regime shift, serving as a convenient way to avoid respecting it.
Democracy requires the existence of a Republic, even if its precepts are not followed. As long as elections take place, that is enough for the international community, even though, with the exception of two or three presidential elections, the rest have been marred by fraud and manipulation.
“National Day” might be acceptable because we have always had it, even if it was not celebrated like it is today. Moreover, some countries, like Denmark and the United Kingdom, do not have a national day, yet this does not prevent them from being models of democracy and development.
What does the national day mean if the measures taken behind the scenes are anti-development? Lowering excise duties on beer and telecommunications while taxing imported rice and gas at 20%, all while cutting the education budget, has no consistency with the State’s General Policy. When it is announced that the objective of the trade law is economic recovery, we find that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.
If there is one area that requires emergency measures and where all the indicators are in the red, it is absolutely education. International organizations like UNICEF and donors like the World Bank have published damning reports. Reducing the budget for the Ministry of National Education constitutes “infanticide” for the future.
In some places, the CEPE exam took place on the ground, without desks or benches. Some districts are building their own high schools with whatever means they have. At the same time, the allowances of deputies have been increased, and the budget of the Presidency has been comfortably raised.
Under these conditions, it is difficult to find any correlation between priorities and urgent needs.
Sylvain Ranjalahy
Captured & Published at: 2026-06-30 17:11:01 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/06/faute-nationale.html