Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache

The Mouvement démocratique de la rénovation malgache ("Democratic Movement for Malagasy Rejuvenation") or MDRM was the first political party formed in Madagascar, following the Brazzaville Conference of 1944 during which General Charles de Gaulle announced all colonies were to become French overseas territories entitled to representation in the French National Assembly.

At the first post-war constituent assembly convened in Paris in November 1945 to draft the constitution of the French Fourth Republic, Madagascar was represented by two doctors named Joseph Raseta and Joseph Ravoahangy. They formed the MDRM political party together with future writer Jacques Rabemananjara in early 1946. All three leaders were the descendents of Hova who had been politically prominent in the former Merina royal court. The party's platform was built on national independence from France. The movement was pacifist, and while it sought independence for Madagascar, it embraced the French vision of the island as part of the global Francophone economic and cultural community. Their platform garnered mass support that cut across geographic, ethnic and class divisions, and in November 1946 the trio were elected to represent Madagascar as deputies (députés) in the French National Assembly.

Merina Hova elites founded the MDRM not only in the interest of liberating all Malagasy from French rule, but also in regaining the political dominance of the Merina upon independence. In reaction to the founding of the MDRM, in 1946 the Parti des déshérités de Madagascar ("Party for the Disinherited of Madagascar"; PADESM) was formed. It attracted membership from members of coastal communities formerly subjugated by the Merina empire, as well as highland-based descendents of slaves of Merina masters. Initially a non-nationalist party, PADESM eventually favored a gradual process toward independence that would preserve close ties to France and prevent the reemergence of the precolonial Merina hegemony. The Socialist-dominated French authorities tacitly supported PADESM, seeking to cast themselves as champions of the oppressed masses against the exploitative Hova elites.

...
Wikipedia