Madagascan President demands a referendum

Times of India 28.04.2002

ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar's outgoing President Didier Ratsiraka Sunday demanded that a referendum be held to determine the outcome of a violent dispute over the presidency of the Indian Ocean island state.

Such a referendum, Ratsiraka told reporters, was envisaged in a reconciliation deal he had signed in Dakar on April 18 with his rival for the presidency, maverick politician Marc Ravalomanana.

"For me, if we want national reconciliation, the people must make their choice by means of a referendum," he said.

Ratsiraka said earlier Sunday he would not recognise a high court ruling due Monday on the outcome of December's contested presidential poll.

Ratsiraka, who returned to Madagascar earlier in the day after more than a week away in France, told reporters he considered the High Constitutional Court (HCC) to be "illegal".

Ravalomanana, the mayor of the capital Antananarivo, unilaterally declared himself head of state in February, saying initial results that called for a second-round runoff with Ratsiraka had been rigged against him.