The two-page letter is addressed to several parliamentary institutions and international organizations, but it is directed primarily at France. The country's ambassador in Antananarivo, Arnaud Guillois, understood this and was the first to receive a delegation of four Malagasy parliamentarians on Thursday, November 2, who had come to convey the signatories' concern and incomprehension at France's silence in the face of the pre-electoral crisis into which Madagascar is sinking.

Do we have to wait for bloodshed in the streets of Antananarivo for foreign governments to come out of the woodwork and condemn the manipulation of the electoral process by incumbent president Andry Rajoelina regarding his re-election?, warns the document drafted by politicians of the Collectif des 10 (which includes 10 of the 13 contenders for the presidential election), and who are opposed to carrying on with the election date, set on November 16.

"This is an impending crisis, with all the evidence and warning signs to back it up. But no doubt we need deaths and bloodshed to realize the danger of the situation!" the letter denounced, appealing to "the duty to intervene (...) to prevent a conflict."

Since the beginning of October, the Collectif des 10, which includes former presidents Marc Ravalomanana and Hery Rajaonarimampianina, has been boycotting the campaign and organizing peaceful marches, several of which have been dispersed with tear-gas canisters. One of the candidates suffered an eye injury and is still in Mauritius, where he had to be evacuated for treatment. Although after the initial acts of repression, the demonstrators kept their distance from the Place du 13-Mai, they intend to reoccupy this symbolic site in the center of the capital on Saturday, where all the major turning points in the country's political life have been played out.

Foreign governments (including France which is providing financial support for the organization of the election), have so far responded in terms deemed too measured given the gravity of the situation, expressing in their latest communiqué dated October 16 "their concern about a tense political climate" and "their worries about the disproportionate use of force."

On the same day, at the inauguration of the parliamentary session, the president of the Malagasy Assemblée Nationale, Christine Razanamahasoa, despite being a member of the president's party, observed that "the country is at an impasse." In attendance with other members of the diplomatic corps, Guillois, interviewed by local journalists, caused a stir when he declared that he had "noted" the November 16 date for the first round of voting, although the opposition was requesting for it to be postponed. The ambassador's words were taken out of context, a diplomatic source said, assuring that "they in no way signified approval."

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