With the transition committed to a limited 24-month duration, the delay in consultation schedules is already raising questions. While the government assures it wants to complete the national consultation process by the end of 2026 to quickly launch institutional reforms, the Ecumenical Council of Christian Churches of Madagascar (FFKM), tasked with orchestrating these consultations, has yet to begin the first consultations. A calendar delay that casts heavy uncertainty over the entire transition roadmap. The schedule submitted by the government to international partners was meant to be precise, with national consultations to conclude in December 2026, paving the way for reforms and elections in 2027.
On April 23, during a strategic meeting organized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Anosy, Prime Minister Mamitiana Rajaonarison, accompanied by the Foreign Affairs Minister, the Minister for Refoundation, and the Minister of Youth and Sports, presented this schedule and other key points of the "Program for the Refoundation of the Republic of Madagascar" to the international community. Diplomats, international organizations, and financial partners were invited to discover a roadmap intended to lead the country toward a new institutional architecture. A few weeks earlier, in late February 2026, this same program had already been presented to SADC.
Commitments
Under this logic, the transition opened after the October 2025 takeover was to respect its 24-month commitment, with a new elected government installed in 2028. This roadmap was again highlighted on June 29. Following the extraordinary summit of SADC heads of state and government, the regional organization urged the transition authorities led by Colonel Michael Randrianirina to "respect the commitments made," implementing clearly defined, transparent reforms backed by a precise schedule. But behind this official calendar, another reality emerges.
Within the FFKM, preparations for national consultations appear to be moving at a very different pace. The first consultations at fokontany level, announced for May, have yet to begin. For several weeks, the Ecumenical Council leaders have maintained cathedral silence, with no public communication about the reasons for this delay or any possible new deadline. Yet the scheme developed by the FFKM is particularly ambitious. Three months are to be devoted to consultations in fokontany, then three more months at the municipal level, before continuing successively in districts and regions. A consolidation phase is planned for March 2027, before a major national consultation scheduled for April 2027.
This schedule alone already contradicts the government's stated objectives. Even if consultations started immediately, their completion before December 2026, as the government had planned, now appears practically out of reach. The FFKM targets April 2027 to complete consultations. Each additional week of delay mechanically pushes back the entire process. And the longer the schedule stretches, the greater the risk of suspicions emerging about an extension of the political status quo.