On behalf of the Malagasy Republic and its Head of State, Mr. Philibert Tsiranana, President of the Republic, I wish to offer our warm congratulations to Mr. Slim on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixteenth session. We cannot forget that twice in 1960 he demonstrated his friendship to the Malagasy people and gave it powerful support: in June 1960, when he submitted Madagascar's application for membership to the Security Council, and in September of that year when he supported our final admission to membership of the United Nations. The Malagasy people also rejoice with all the African nations at the honour that the achievement of this high office by one of its most illustrious sons does to our continent.
174. It is my sad duty to pay my respects to the memory of Dag Hammarskjold. The world has lost a great man, one of those who are a credit to mankind; his name will remain in our memories long after so many passing triumphs have been forgotten. A high sense of duty, a lofty conception of his role, a dedicated search for everything which could help to make the dread spectre of war recede—these are some of the qualities which made Dag Hammarskjold a living personification of the ideal which gathers a hundred free nations of the world together in this Assembly.
175. For the last few weeks the world has been plunged, into fear and anguish. The two great. Powers and their allies have been engaged in controversy which is likely to lead them along a dangerous path. The small nations are anxiously wondering what turn events will take, fearful that at any minute a rash and ill-advised action may unleash blind and destructive forces w! eh will bring to nought the efforts the free peoples have been making in this Organization for the last sixteen years to maintain peace and to ensure that wise and conciliatory solutions may prevail over violence.
176. In this strange duel which is taking place above their heads, the outcome of which will nevertheless decide their future and even their lives, they have a part to play. For, in an upsurge of faith and generosity, the peoples who created the United Nations in 1945 agreed that in this Organization every nation, weak or powerful, would have an equal voice, the same opportunities for action and hence the same duties and responsibilities in the maintenance of peace.
177. It is in conformity with those principles that the Malagasy Republic is determined to make its contribution, during the sixteenth session, to any action which would result not only in preventing the cold war from turning into horrors of a real war but also, if possible, in bringing that cold war to an end, so that, returning to wisdom, reason and reality, the nations would decide to live together in peace.
178. We shall support with all our strength the proposals on the agenda of this session which are designed to put an end to nuclear explosions in any form and to bring about an agreement to outlaw these dreadful weapons. We also support the proposals for progressive general disarmament, simultaneous and controlled.
179. My delegation still thinks that the best bulwark against war lies in the strengthening of the collective security machinery provided for in the United Nations Charter and that for that purpose an effective executive is essential for the Organization. It will therefore oppose any measure likely to restrict the initiative and the powers of the Secretary-General, although it will not refuse to consider the institution of a system which would enable him to be assisted by competent colleagues.
180. During the fifteenth session emphasis was placed on the desirability of enabling the Member States, at present numbering 100, to participate more effectively in the two major United Nations bodies, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. My Government considers that that is an act of justice which should no longer be delayed and that, before the end of the sixteenth session, specific action should be taken to enlarge those bodies considerably. That should be done independently of any other discussion concerning some of the provisions of the Charter which one of the groups in the Assembly wishes to see amended.
181. Articles 52 and 53 of the Charter envisage the existence of regional arrangements or agencies for dealing with matters relating to international peace and security. It is in conformity with those provisions that, since the admission of my country to the United Nations, my delegation has belonged to the group of African and Asian countries and to the African group and has given them loyal and disinterested support. It was with the same idea that the Malagasy Republic took part in the big conference, at Monrovia,10/ of some twenty African and Malagasy nations. During that conference, resolutions were adopted for promoting friendship and co-operation among all the African, nations, without exception, and for ensuring the settlement of all disputes by peaceful means.
182. Later, from 6 to 12 September 1961, twelve African and Malagasy Republics met at Tananarive
and laid the foundations of the African and Malagasy Union, This Union is open to all peace-loving peoples who would like to work with us, within this fraternal organization, for the elimination of war and the development of international co-operation in the spirit of the Charter, and, more specifically, to collaborate for the defence of the integrity and independence of the African nations and for their economic and social development. For seven days, twelve Heads of State exchanged views, in a friendly atmosphere, on the great problems which plague the world. Scorning noisy publicity and avoiding all exaggerated statements, which could only stiffen the various positions, the Tananarive Twelve, anxious to preserve an impartial position between the two blocs, reaffirmed the principles which had been agreed upon at Monrovia and decided to unite their efforts to ensure that wise and conciliatory settlements should prevail. I will not dwell on the results of the Tananarive Conference, since the representative of Niger has just informed you of them in all clarity and eloquence.
183. With regard to the vital problem of decolonization, my delegation, faithful to the decisions of the Tananarive Conference, will continue to give its full support to all decisions calculated to give the peoples who are still dependent an opportunity to express their free will as soon as possible and, through self- determination, to accede to independence if that is their wish. It hopes that Portugal, listening to the voice of reason, will liberate Angola and Mozambique as soon as possible.
184. My Government is opposed to all forms of racial discrimination. It will not hesitate to endorse any action designed to remove this shameful evil from the face of the earth, especially in South Africa. It feels, however, that decolonization alone is not enough.
185. For decolonization to achieve its goal, which is ultimately the liberation of man, the regimes of the independent countries must be democratic. My Head of State is a convinced democrat and he considers, as does the whole population of Madagascar, that a people living under a regime which is not based on the free consent of the people is not a free people.
186. My Government has never made a secret of the friendly relations existing between Madagascar and France, which as a result of free negotiation gave it self-government in 1958 and independence in ,1960. It is because of that friendship that Madagascar fervently hopes that the Algerian conflict, Which has been going on for seven years, may be brought to an end according to the principles laid down by the Charter, i.e., by the total decolonization of the Maghreb.
187. The obstacle of the Sahara having been finally surmounted, we urge the French Government and the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic—as did the twelve Heads of State of the African and Malagasy Union at Tananarive—to resume their negotiations to determine the conditions for supervising the process of self-determination which should ensure the independence of Algeria, including the Algerian part of the Sahara, and this time to bring them to a successful conclusion.
188. The Malagasy delegation Is happy to see that for Tunisia the absurd conflict which arose on 19 July 1961 is almost at an end and will soon be no more than a bad memory. It is glad to have contributed
loyally to that settlement by voting in favour of the resolution [1622 (S-III)J which called upon both parties to enter into negotiations.
189. With regard to the Congo, my Government's policy has never altered. It still considers that the United Nations must help that country to recover its balance, and, since its constitutional institutions have finally been established, to seek reconciliation and; to forget past quarrels. My Government, faithful to its constant principle of respecting the right of peoples to self-determination, would have reservations if ever the United Nations, going beyond its role, gave its assistance to any military operations whose objective, whether avowed or secret, was to reduce opposition by force. I state categorically that the peoples of the Congo must be the sole masters of their fate and must remain free to adopt whatever form of government they may choose.
190. In order not to prolong this statement of general policy, may I be allowed to quote a few extracts from the speech made by Mr. Tsiranana, President of the Malagasy Republic, on 6 September 1961 at the opening of the Tananarive Conference,. They throw light on the views of my people and their President concerning the events which are convulsing the world, and it is on that basis that my delegation, in close association with the eleven other States of the African and Malagasy Union, will determine its policy and its votes. I quote:
"We too could easily stoop to words and deeds which would demonstrate that in our minds decolonization has not been completed. But we can, I think, be proud to say that hatred does no good and that, as formerly colonized peoples, w*j do not want to become colonizers or ever to have to take up arms against anyone.
"All colonialism must disappear, all neo-colonial- ism must be destroyed in order to increase cohesion, inter-penetration and peace among all the States inhabiting the vast continent of Africa. We hope that at the intercontinental level relations between countries may be developed in conditions and directions similar to those by which the establishment of our relations with France has been characterized, on the basis of reciprocal feelings of respect, generosity and understanding."
191. Political independence is not everything. It would even be a delusion unless every nation could achieve economic independence, which is a prerequisite for genuine independence.
192. The generous efforts which have been undertaken to help the under-developed countries to escape from poverty, and perhaps from despair, must continue and, with experience, become more and more effective.
193. My Government considers that international assistance and multilateral aid are undoubtedly necessary, but that the means that have been used so far are very paltry compared with the immense task which has yet to be accomplished. The reasons advanced against bilateral assistance agreements are, in its opinion, unsound. The first attribute of a sovereign State is the capacity to enter into agreements freely with whomsoever it wishes for its national defence and its economic life. My Government is therefore glad that there are many such agreements, whose replacement should not be contemplated until there is sufficient international assistance available.
194. It wishes, however, to draw attention to a problem which indeed did not escape the notice Of the Assembly when the Committee for Industrial Development and the Commission on International Commodity Trade were set up. It seems to us essential that the work done by those two bodies should produce specific solutions quickly and that the important question of the stabilization of commodity prices should be settled satisfactorily. Indeed, it would be impossible for development programmes to be carried out rationally if unpredictable and frequently inexplicable variations in world prices of basic commodities were to upset the economic balance of the under-developed Countries.
195. My delegation was delighted to co-sponsor the resolution [1623 (XVI)] admitting Sierra Leone to membership of the United Nations. I am happy to voice here the satisfaction felt by President Tsiranana, my Head of State, my Government and the Malagasy people as a whole at this auspicious event. Our most affectionate wishes will accompany the new State in its first steps on the road of independence and we rejoice to see one of the participants in the Monrovia Conference taking its seat in this Assembly.
196. Unfortunately another of the twenty-one States at that Conference is still awaiting admission: I refer to Mauritania, which is being kept out of the Assembly by a veto prompted by cold war considerations which have nothing to do with the merits of the case. I urge all those who are directly or indirectly involved in this unhappy state of affairs to reconsider their position and to cease frustrating the explicit will of the Assembly, which at its fifteenth session recommended the admission of Mauritania by 63 votes to 15 [989th meeting]* Is that the respect due to our Organization, that respect for the lack of which some countries have so often been reproached?
197. In December 1960, during the fifteenth session of the Assembly, we adopted, with unanimous and spontaneous enthusiasm, the resolution [1514 (XV)] designed to put an end to colonialism. I urge one and all to match their words by their deeds and not to oppose the admission of Mauritania, for the African and Malagasy people would not understand an attitude which would be in such flagrant contradiction with the statements made from the rostrum.
198. We welcomed the announcement that other African States will accede to independence in the next few months. We shall welcome them with equal joy, confident that one day all the peoples of Africa, free or liberated, will be represented in this Assembly.
199. Despite the shadows which have been hanging over mankind for the last few months, despite the atmosphere of terror in which we live, trembling for our fate, and that of our children, mankind has not lost all hope, for there are some rays of light. One of the most comforting is the fact that a hundred nations are today gathered in this Hall to study ways of emerging from this labyrinth and embarking upon a future of light and hope.
200. Must mankind finally be defeated? To think that 's to disregard the message which, from beyond the grave, Dag Hammarskjold, and with him all the generous souls who have worked for peace, have left us.
No, let us combine our good will, let us unite in one and the same desire to save the thousands of millions of human beings living on the earth who placed their faith in us. Let us swear that v/e shall do all we can to ensure that this planet does not sink into the eternal silence of the icy universe and infinite space.