Self-declared president gets upper hand

Second Madagascan province yields

Business Day - 22.04.2002

ANTANANARIVO (Sapa-AFP) - Supporters of Madagascar's self-proclaimed president Marc Ravalomanana have taken charge of a second province as he gained the upper hand in a four-month power struggle against incumbent Didier Ratsiraka.

Ravalomanana aide Pety Rakotoniaina was sworn in on Saturday as governor of Fianarantsoa province south of the capital, Antananarivo.

The ceremony came two days after Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka signed a pact to end an increasingly violent political crisis that erupted in the Indian Ocean island over the outcome of December 16 presidential elections.

Thousands turned out for the ceremony in Fianarantsoa, the country's third-largest town that the Ravalomanana camp sees as the key to breaking a crippling blockade imposed on the capital by Ratsiraka loyalists.

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade and other African leaders persuaded the rivals to sign a pact on Thursday in Dakar, providing for a recount of the December vote and an internationally supervised referendum if no clear winner emerged.

Ratsiraka, who had taken his government to the eastern port of Toamasina, agreed to have his supporters immediately raise their blockade of the capital.

A foreign observer close to the Dakar talks said: "Ravalomanana is the big winner here. Ratsiraka gave way on almost every count, which had until then blocked all negotiation bids."

A spokesman for Toamasina governor Samuel Lahady said: "There are still things required before we lift the roadblocks, among other things the return of President Ratsiraka from Paris."

Several Ratsiraka supporters felt "betrayed" by the former Marxist military ruler, who went to France on leaving the Senegalese capital. One of his closest aides said: "If the roadblocks go, so does his hold on power."

A persistent rumour in a capital full of them holds that in an "unwritten clause" in the Dakar accord, Ratsiraka agreed to pull out before any referendum. Several independent sources said he gave an "oral commitment" under pressure from Wade.