Madagascans protest against leader

24/03/2009| IslamWeb

Thousands of people have gathered in Madagascar's capital to protest against Andry Rajoelina taking power in the country.

Some 3,000 supporters of Marc Ravalomanana, the deposed president, gathered in Antananarivo for several hours on Monday chanting slogans and pledging resistance to Rajoelina's rule.

And they vowed to continue protesting all week against the army-backed takeover of the Indian Ocean island.

Ravalomanana, with his palaces besieged by the army, handed power last week to the military, who in turn conferred power on Rajoelina, who had been in a power struggle with Ravalomanana for months.

But the former president's supporters have been buoyed by widespread international condemnation of what has been called Rajoelina's power-grab.

The African Union has suspended Madagascar in protest, joining the European Union in calling it a coup, while the US and Norway have cut aid.

Raharinaivo Andrianantoandro, a spokesman for Ravalomanana's party, called for independent political reconciliation talks.

"We cannot accept the seizure of power by arms and force," he told the demonstrators.

"We want first of all a return to legal order and the re-establishment of institutions".

Shot fired

The demonstrators had planned to march to the same May 13 square where Rajoelina held months of near-daily protests that pressed Ravalomanana to stand down.

They dispersed, however, when an army vehicle pulled up and fired a shot into the air.

"We have not finished yet!" the protesters chanted in Malagasy, pledging to protest daily throughout the week.

Rajoelina, who became Africa's youngest president at 34, appears to have strong support among the young and poor in the capital. He also has the military top brass behind him.

He is six years too young to be president according to Madagascar's constitution, but says he is president of a transitional authority and not the republic. He has also pledged to organize new elections within two years.

Critics say that is too long to wait and analysts warn that the new leader remains vulnerable to divisions within the army and people.

The months of power struggle have left at least 135 people dead, crippled the $390m-a-year tourism industry and unnerved foreign investors in the key mining and oil sectors.

PHOTO CAPTION

Andry Rajoelina walks past a guard of honour during a ceremony in Antananarivo's stadium where he was officially invested as transitional president of Madagascar on March 21.

Al-Jazeera