Madgascar picks ex-president's main rival as leader

The army installed a bitter rival of Madagascar’s toppled president as the country’s leader today after rejecting a move to hand power to them.

Marc Ravalomanana stepped down yesterday intending to transfer rule to a military directorate.

But in a ceremony broadcast from a military camp in the capital, Admiral Hyppolite Rarison Ramaroson said the military instead was installing opposition leader Andry Rajoelina.

For months, Mr Rajoelina – a disc jockey turned broadcasting magnate who had been mayor of Antananarivo, the capital – has been leading anti-government rallies and pressing Mr Ravalomanana to step down. Some protests have led to deadly clashes.

He accused Mr Ravalomanana of misusing public funds and undermining democracy in Madagascar – an impoverished nation off the coast of south-eastern Africa known for both its natural beauty and its political instability.

Over the weekend Mr Rajoelina declared himself president of a transitional government and promised new presidential elections within two years.

After weeks of insisting he would never resign Mr Ravalomanana announced yesterday afternoon he was giving control to the military. Almost as he spoke Mr Rajoelina was parading triumphantly through the capital surrounded by armed soldiers and an adoring crowd after seizing control of one of the city’s presidential palaces.

“Power belongs to the people,” Mr Rajoelina said. “The people give power, the people can take it back.”

Madagascar’s highest court accepted the army’s decision after Mr Rajoelina’s supporters asked it to confirm the army’s move.

Mr Ravalomanana’s rags-to-riches tale – he started out selling ice cream from a bicycle – was once a source of popularity. But Mr Rajoelina, tapping into the deep dissatisfaction of Madagascar’s impoverished majority, portrayed Mr Ravalomanana as interested mostly in enriching himself and out of touch with the suffering of ordinary people.

Mr Rajoelina, however, comes from the wealthy minority that has had a stranglehold on Madagascar’s politics.

Political tensions have been rising since late January, when the government blocked an opposition radio station’s signal. Rajoelina supporters set fire to a government broadcasting building as well as an oil depot, a shopping mall and a private TV station linked to Ravalomanana. Scores of people were killed.

Days later, soldiers opened fire on anti-government protesters, killing at least 25. The incident cost Mr Ravalomanana much of the support of the military, which blamed him for the order to fire.