Madagascar former presidents in final attempt to return to power
ANTANANARIVO: Two former Madagascar presidents drew tens of thousands of supporters to rival rallies in the capital Antananarivo on Saturday as they entered the final stretch of their election campaign.
Former President Marc Ravalomanana and rival Andry Rajoelina are frontrunners in the Nov 7 ballot in Madagascar, where protests earlier this year erupted over a government attempt to reform electoral rules.
The election pits Ravalomanana against the man who ousted him from power in 2009 in a militarybacked revolt that left the Indian Ocean island state internationally isolated and later struggling with a legacy of bitter political division.
Ravalomanana filled the capital’s Mahamasina suburb with his supporters dressed in white, his campaign colour. His rival Rajoelina, head of state from 2009 to 2014, packed out Antsonjombe stadium, a few kilometres away.
“Since you have not been able to achieve anything during your tenures, it is now up to me to realise it and to do more,” Rajoelina told his supporters, referring to Ravalomanana and most recent president, Hery Rajaonarimampianina.
On the streets of the capital, groups of rival supporters — Rajoelina’s ones in orange and those of Ravalomanana in white, walked past each other, without incidents.
“You will sell the country if you come to power,” yelled one Rajoelina’s supporter.
“No one can buy us, unlike you,” Ravalomanana’s supporters shouted back.
Rajoelina, a former disc jockey and successful entrepreneur, highlighted his youth and communication skills to rally support.
Ravalomanana, a milk mogul who lived in exile in South Africa after his ouster, began his political career as mayor of the capital but was criticised as president for an increasingly autocratic and corruption-tainted rule. — AFP