by Bai Jingshan

    ANTANANARIVO, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Madagascan transitional government understands the European Union (EU) despite its punitive measures, according to a senior official.

    In an exclusive interview with Xinhua here on Wednesday, Interior Minister Manantsoa Masimana said what the EU had said was to encourage Madagascan politicians to continue dialogue and seek peaceful solution to the current political crisis.

    On a question about EU position on the argument raised by Madagascan transitional president Andry Rajoelina that his presidency and the power transfer in his country was legalized by the Madagascan High Constitutional Court, Masimana said it was not necessary to say whether the EU was satisfied or not for what had been going on in Madagascar.

    Rajoelina and his delegation failed to convince the EU which has frozen the aid totalling 630 million euros (882 million U. S. dollars) for Madagascar, at a two-day meeting in Brussels closed on Tuesday.

    The EU condemned the power transfer in Madagascar in March as violation of the Cotonou agreement, a treaty signed between the EUand the African Caribbean and Pacific group of states in June 2000in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin.

    The EU also decided to suspend cooperative activities with Madagascar, except humanitarian aid, and certain programs and projects that directly benefit the population.

    Within the framework of the Cotonou agreement, enhanced political dialogue in Madagascar should be continued as an important discussion and the EU would encourage Madagascan stakeholders to join efforts in a transition process leading to the return of constitutional legality.

    The EU discussed, among others, the legality of the Madagascan transitional authority and the latest political development in the country, focusing on peace, security, stability, democracy and human rights protection.

    However, in his interview with Xinhua, Masimana said that "in any case, what we presented in Brussels would be studied in 120 days, from July 6, that is why the EU did not take any decision yet on Madagascar."

    According to the interior minister, the sum the EU should pay to the Madagascan government actually depended on the results of dialogue between the Madagascan politicians.

    Masimana argued that the International Monetary Fund also froze its aid to Madagascar in December, days before the dispute between Rajoelina and his predecessor Marc Ravalomanana.

    "The EU encourages Madagascans to reach a consensus, but participation should be redefined correctly, in another words, we have and will take consensual approach in any dialogue and the transitional government has been ready to play a major role in unifying all political forces in the country," Masimana said.

    As a matter of fact, he added, power transition is currently done either within the High Transitional Authority or at the level of the transitional government.

    Rajoelina replaced Ravalomanana as president of the Indian Ocean island state on March 21, four days after Ravalomanana gave his presidency to the military top brass, who then transferred the power to Rajoelina.

    Ravalomanana, who came to power in 2002 following a six-month stalemate with his predecessor Didier Ratsiraka, fled out of the country on March 25 and has been living in exile in Swaziland and South Africa ever since.