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Madagascar’s ex-presidents prepare to do battle
ANTANANARIVO, Nov 5, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Thirty-six candidates will do battle
to win the presidency in polls on November 7.
The three frontrunners are former presidents and here are their profiles:
– Ravalomanana: milkman-turned-millionaire –
Marc Ravalomanana, 68, was ejected from power in 2009 and is looking to get
his revenge at the ballot box.
A former milkman born to a peasant family, he went on to form an agro
empire after creating Tiko yoghurt.
The newly wealthy self-made man became the mayor of Antananarivo in 1999.
Two years later he took power from outgoing president Didier Ratsiraka
following violent street protests.
He was reelected in 2006 in the first round of voting and secured the
cancellation of Madagascar’s debt.
While his supporters lauded his indefatigable energy, critics accused him
of acting like a dictator and criticism mounted from the end of 2008.
On February 7, 2009, his presidential guard opened fire on supporters of
then Antananarivo mayor, Andry Rajoelina, as they marched on the presidential
palace.
Ravalomanana was forced to hand power to the army who subsequently passed
the presidential reins to his rival Rajoelina.
He then went into exile, not returning to the Indian Ocean island nation
until the election of Hery Rajaonarimampianina in 2014.
Asked how he would react to a Rajoelina win, Ravalomanana told AFP: “I
would accept the results, within limits”.
– Rajoelina: return of ‘the disc jockey’? –
Andry Rajoelina, 44, is the pollsters’ favourite and has attracted
impressive numbers to his rallies which have featured performance artists and
fireworks.
His policies have drawn the mirth of his rivals, such as a proposal to fit
zebu cows with trackers to battle rustling, and a scheme to convert Tamatave
port into a “Malagasy Miami”.
Rajoelina burst onto the political scene in 2007.
He was previously known for promoting parties in the capital which earned
him the nickname “the disc jockey” but caused an upset when he won the city’s
mayoral race.
Helped by his own Viva broadcasting channel and strong communications
skills, he quickly established himself as the leading voice of opposition to
then-president Ravalomanana.
His supporters openly defied the regime with the tacit support of the
military who helped oust Ravalomanana in 2009.
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Rajoelina defended his elevation to the presidential palace on the wave of
a coup d’etat.
“It was a popular uprising,” he told AFP. The handsome then thirty-
something struggled to lead the country out of crisis as its unelected
leader.
His rivals also accused him of turning a blind eye to the pillage of the
country’s natural resources.
His failings won him the nickname “crayfish” — a crustacean that walks
backwards.
Under international pressure, Rajoelina did not contest the 2013 election
and backed his victorious former finance minister Hery Rajaonarimampianina.
The two men fell out shortly after and will face off at polls for the first
time this year.
– Rajaonarimampianina: economist and poet –
Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who turns 60 on Tuesday prides himself on his
low-key demeanour and is perhaps the most understated of the leading
contenders.
As president, the master economist hoped to turn the page on years of
turmoil.
But his term from 2014 to 2018 did not escape the instability that has
rocked the country since independence.
Rajaonarimampianina survived parliamentary manoeuvres to oust him as well
as a mass protest movement earlier this year that claimed the lives of two
people.
Before winning the top job, he served as Rajoelina’s finance minister,
overhauling the country’s finances and integrating aid and private spending
into the fiscal mix.
He also restored stability to the local ariary currency.
But critics, especially in Rajoelina’s camp, accuse him of having closed
his eyes to the trafficking of endangered rosewood and precious stones. He
was a virtual unknown in 2013 but benefited from the election bans imposed on
Ravalomanana and Rajoelina.
In line with the constitution, he resigned on September 7 to contest this
year’s polls.
He has promised the profoundly poor nation “a new phase in its development”
if elected.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1031 hrs