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Marc Ravalomanana

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Marc Ravalomanana
President of Madagascar
Incumbent
Assumed office
06 May 2002
Prime MinisterTantely Andrianarivo
Jacques Sylla
Jean-Jacques Rasolondraibe
Jacques Sylla
Charles Rabemananjara
Preceded byDidier Ratsiraka
Personal details
Born (1949-12-12) 12 December 1949 (age 75)
Imerinkasinina, Madagascar
SpouseLalao Ravalomanana

Marc Ravalomanana (born December 12, 1949 in Imerinkasinina[1][2]) is a Malagasy politician who is currently the President of Madagascar. A member of the Merina ethnic group,[1] Ravalomanana served as Mayor of Antananarivo before becoming President in 2002. He took office as President amidst a dispute over the results of the December 2001 presidential election in which he successfully pressed his claim to have won a majority in the first round. He was re-elected in December 2006, again with a majority in the first round.

HE LIkes SEX [2] and defeating former Prime Minister Guy Willy Razanamasy.[3] As mayor he was credited with successfully cleaning up the capital.[1][4] He announced on August 5, 2001 that he would run for president in the election to be held later that year on December 16;[5][6] two months later, polls showed him to be ahead of the incumbent president, Didier Ratsiraka. Following the election, official results put Ravalomanana in first place, with 46%, against Ratsiraka's 40%; without a majority, a run-off would be required between the two. Ravalomanana, however, claimed to have won a majority in the first round, and he refused to participate in a run-off, instead demanding that the High Constitutional Court review the votes. Ratsiraka's supporters then blockaded the capital, which Ravalomanana's supporters controlled. Ravalomanana declared himself president on February 22, 2002. After a recount, on April 29, 2002 the High Constitutional Court pronounced Ravalomanana the winner of the election, and he was sworn in for a second time on May 6. The presidency remained disputed, however, until fighting forced Ratsiraka to flee into exile on July 5, 2002, after he had lost control of most of the country's provinces.[6]

Ravalomanana is the founder of Tiako I Madagasikara, which is now the ruling party, although he is not currently a member because, as President, he is barred from membership in a political party.[7]

Presidency

Ravalomanana is credited with improving the country's infrastructure, such as roads, along with making improvements in education and health, but has faced criticism for his lack of progress against poverty; purchasing power is said to have declined during his time in office.[8][9] On November 18, 2006, his plane was forced to divert from Madagascar's capital during a return trip from Europe following reports of a coup underway in Antananarivo and shooting near the airport;[10] however, this alleged coup attempt was unsuccessful.

Ravalomanana ran for a second term in the presidential election held on December 3, 2006.[11] According to official results, he won the election with 54.79% of the vote in the first round; his best results were in Antananarivo Province, where he received the support of 75.39% of voters.[12] He was sworn in for his second term on January 19, 2007.[13]

Ravalomanana dissolved the National Assembly in July 2007, prior to the end of its term, following a constitutional referendum earlier in the year. Ravalomanana said that a new election needed to be held so that the National Assembly would reflect the changes made in this referendum.[14]

He is currently involved in a political standoff after he closed the TV station belonging to Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina.

In December 2008 the major donors of Madagascar (IMF, World Bank, European Union, African Development Bank) suspended the disbursement of direct budget support due to budgetary misconduct mainly involving mixing the president's business interests with state interests [15].

Following a week of political protests in Antananarivo, Rajoelina demanded that Ravalomanana step down from the presidency on January 31 2009, calling Ravalomanana a dictator, a scoundrel and a thief. Ravalomanana responded by firing Rajoelina, citing a law which allows the government to remove officials who fail to do their job. This move, however, is considered not in line with the country's laws by constitutional lawyers[who?], but rather another sign of abusing the president's executive powers to repress the mayor, who won a landslide victory in December 2007 against the President's candidate for the job of mayor of the capital. [16] Several pleas by the churches, the Secretary General of the UN and the local diplomatic community to the President to dialogue with his political opponent in order to find a peaceful solution to the political crisis were ignored.

On February 7, 2009, an opposition rally was held with twenty thousand in attendance. Following the call of opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, the crowd started to march towards the president's office in downtown. As the demonstrators tried to enter the presidential palace the presidential guards opened fire, killing at least thirty people and dozens of injured. By doing so, Ravalomanana becomes the third president (after his predecessors Didier Ratsiraka and Philbert Tsiranana) in recent Malagasy history to allow the defence forces to shoot at the crowd. Afterwards, Ravalomanana addressed his people on national television urging them to remain calm. [17]

Personal life

Ravalomanana is known for his fervent Christian faith.[6] He is at present the head layman of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), a Reformed Protestant church in Madagascar with 2.5 million adherents. In office, he has been outspoken about his religion and in 2005 he said that he "dream[s] of a Christian nation"; critics called this a violation of the constitution, which described the state as secular[18] until a 2007 constitutional referendum removed that, along with other changes.

He claims also to be a avid farmer. Upon becoming president he created a dairy farm and rice fields to be displayed on the property of the presidential palace in Iavoloha outside the capital.

Three of his children have been married while he was in office. His oldest daughter runs the MBS media group which controls the second largest radio and television network in the country as well as a number of minor news papers.

His personal residency is in Faravohitra, a neighborhood of the old city of Antananarivo.

Honors

Awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean from the Republic of Mauritius[19]who care about that

References

  1. ^ a b c Richard R. Marcus, "Political Change in Madagascar", Institute for Security Studies, ISS Paper 89, August 2004.
  2. ^ a b "M. Marc RAVALOMANANA, Président de la République de Madagascar.", French presidency website Template:Fr icon.
  3. ^ Chronology of events in Madagascar from 1995 to 2002, taniko.free.fr Template:Fr icon.
  4. ^ Profile of Marc Ravalomanana, BBC News Online, March 11, 2002.
  5. ^ Didier Mauro, "Inusable Ratsiraka.", Jeuneafrique.com, November 20, 2001 Template:Fr icon.
  6. ^ a b c Richard Cornwell, "Madagascar: Stumbling at the first hurdle?", ISS Paper 68, April 2003.
  7. ^ "Le parti au pouvoir tient son congrès national", Xinhua (Jeuneafrique.com), May 22, 2008 Template:Fr icon.
  8. ^ "Opinion divided over Ravalomanana", IRIN, December 1, 2006.
  9. ^ "Voter apathy as election day approaches", IRIN, December 1, 2006.
  10. ^ Johnny Hogg, "Madagascar general urges overthrow", BBC News, November 18, 2006.
  11. ^ "Ravalomanana likely to win presidential election", IRIN, December 11, 2006.
  12. ^ 2006 presidential election results from the High Constitutional Court Template:Fr icon.
  13. ^ "Ravalomanana swears in as Malagasy President", Xinhua, January 19, 2007.
  14. ^ "Madagascar leader dissolves parliament", AFP (IOL), July 24, 2007.
  15. ^ "IMF blocks Madagascar dossier", ["Express de Madagascar, in french"], February 7, 2009.
  16. ^ "Mayor who Tried to Supplant Madagascar's President is Fired", ["New York times"], February 4, 2009.
  17. ^ "Police 'kill many' in Madagascar". BBC News. 2009-02-07. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  18. ^ "‘Christian dream’ of Madagascan leader irks critics", AFP (The Peninsula, Qatar), September 12, 2005.
  19. ^ Mauritius celebrates national day, Portal of the Republic of Mauritius, March 13 2007

See also

Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Antananarivo
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
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