Iavoloha, le Président a déclaré qu’il ne démissionnera pas

Le Président de la République, Marc Ravalomanana, s’est adressé, ce dimanche 15 mars 2009, à la population venue le soutenir au Palais d’Etat d’Iavoloha, ainsi qu’à l’ensemble de la population malgache. Il a affirmé être très touché par le courage dont ont fait preuve tous ces citoyens venus à Iavoloha, bravant le mauvais temps et la pluie, ainsi que par toutes les manifestations de soutien à son endroit. « Je suis conscient des sentiments d’inquiétude que vous devez ressentir, face à des intentions de prise de pouvoir par la force », a-t-il affirmé devant la grande foule présente au culte œcuménique organisé devant le Palais d’Etat.

Le Président de la République, accompagné de son épouse, Lalao Ravalomanana, a alors réitéré son intention de « rester fidèle au peuple et de ne jamais la laisser seule », tout en soulignant que l’heure est venue pour tous de manifester plus que jamais patriotisme et solidarité. « Il ne m’appartient pas, pas plus qu’à vous de juger, mais la vérité éclatera au grand jour, tôt ou tard. Toutes ces épreuves sont la manifestation de l’œuvre de Dieu », a-t-il déclaré.

Le Chef de l’Etat a, une fois de plus, réitéré son intention de ne pas se résigner et de ne jamais démissionner, en appelant la population à renforcer ses convictions et sa foi en Dieu. « Je remercie le peuple malgache pour sa sagesse », a-t-il ajouté, tout en maintenant son intention de suivre la voie de la légalité et de la démocratie, même si celle-ci est encore fragile à Madagascar.

« S’il va falloir passer par un référendum, je n’ai rien à craindre d’une telle éventualité », a-t-il souligné. Le Chef de l’Etat a, enfin, lancé un appel aux forces armées, les invitant à faire un examen de conscience et à rester fidèles à la légalité.

Le Secrétariat à la Communication
source: Présidence de la République de Madagascar

« Je reste le Président » a déclaré Marc Ravalomanana

« Je reste le Président » a déclaré le Président de la République Marc Ravalomanana à la foule rassemblée autours du palais d’Iavoloha, vers 18h15. Les partisans du Président continuent de faire un sit-in devant le palais. Ravalomanana les a encouragé à ne pas perdre espoir. Le palais est actuellement entouré de 7000 partisans du Président, et la population périphérique continue à affluer. On annonce la venue de 40 000 personnes venant des communes de l’Est Analamanga pour demain et après-demain.

AFP: L'opposant Andry Rajoelina affirme commander l'armée

L'opposition malgache a pris le contrôle samedi du siège du gouvernement à Antananarivo. Son chef Andry Rajoelina, qui affirme commander l'armée, a exigé la démission du président Marc Ravalomanana, qui a refusé tout départ.

AFP - L'opposition malgache a pris le contrôle du siège du gouvernement à Antananarivo samedi et son chef Andry Rajoelina, qui a reçu le soutien de facto de l'armée, a donné quatre heures au président Marc Ravalomanana pour quitter le pouvoir.

Dans un communiqué, la présidence a pour sa part affirmé que le pouvoir était toujours entre ses mains.

Escorté d'une trentaine de militaires, un cabinet de l'opposition nommé pour remplacer le gouvernement s'est emparé de la primature désertée, a constaté l'AFP.

Le "Premier ministre" de cette "Haute autorité de transition", Roindefo Zafitsimivalo Monja, entouré de ses "ministres", a affirmé que "le président de la République, l'Assemblée nationale, le Sénat, et le gouvernement (étaient) déchus de leur fonctions".

Cette instance "assure désormais les attributions dévolues au président de la République par la Constitution et le gouvernement de transition exerce immédiatement ses fonctions", a-t-il déclaré.

Peu après, M. Rajoelina, 34 ans, a demandé au président de quitter le pouvoir, lors d'un meeting de ses partisans dans la capitale où il est apparu sur la tribune entouré de militaires.

"Il n'y a pas d'autres solutions que la démission de Ravalomanana dans les quatre heures à venir", a-t-il lancé lors de sa première apparition publique depuis le 3 mars, devant 15.000 personnes réunies place du 13-Mai.

L'opposant, destitué début février de son poste de maire d'Antananarivo et caché depuis le 5 mars suite à une tentative d'arrestation, s'est dit "prêt à une passation démocratique" des pouvoirs et a affirmé qu'il n'enverrait "pas les forces armées" vers le palais présidentiel d'Iavoloha où se trouverait le chef de l'Etat.

Cette semaine, l'armée, la gendarmerie et la police ont basculé dans la défiance au président, affirmant vouloir préserver l'unité et l'indépendance des forces armées de Madagascar, qui vit sa pire crise politique depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir en 2002 de M. Ravalomanana.

Alors que la question d'un coup d'Etat rampant a pu se poser, le nouveau chef d'état-major de l'armée, le colonel André Andriarijaona, a déclaré samedi à l'AFP qu'il n'y avait pas lieu de déployer l'armée vers le palais présidentiel.

"Je suis sûr que la garde présidentielle va quitter les lieux, donc ce n'est pas la peine de déployer les forces armées pour ça", a-t-il déclaré.

"Je suis sûr que la garde présidentielle ne va pas tirer sur les gens sinon la réplique sera catastrophique", a-t-il poursuivi, ajoutant: "Si ça peut ramener le calme, on soutient" l'opposition.

La garde présidentielle est évaluée à environ 500 hommes, loin des quelque 28.000 hommes de l'armée, de la gendarmerie et de la police réunis.

Au moins 28 personnes avaient été tuées le 7 février lorsque la garde présidentielle avait tiré sans sommation sur une foule de partisans de l'opposition. Plus d'une centaine de personnes sont mortes depuis janvier.

Samedi, l'opposition a aussi reçu le soutien, symboliquement fort, du président de l'Assemblée nationale et ex-Premier ministre de M. Ravalomanana, Jacques Sylla.

L'opposition a par ailleurs pris l'"engagement" d'organiser les élections présidentielle, législatives, communales d'ici 24 mois.

Elle accuse M. Ravalomanana d'avoir "manqué à ses obligations constitutionnelles et commis des actes rentrant en violation du serment prêté devant la Nation", lui reprochant notamment "la tuerie" du 7 février et "l'utilisation de prérogatives de puissance publique au profit d'intérêts purement privés et personnels".

La Commission européenne s'est déclarée samedi "sérieusement préoccupée" par la crise.

www.france24.com | AFP

Reuters Africa: Madagascar's president says not resigning

ANTANANARIVO, March 14 (Reuters) - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana said on Saturday he was not planning to step down and that national dialogue was the solution to the political crisis in the Indian Ocean island.

"Yes, of course I'm still the president," he told Reuters when he came to talk to supporters gathered outside his presidential palace.

Asked whether he would resign in the next 24 hours following an opposition ultimatum for him to quit, Ravalomanana said: "No, I will not be resigning in the next 24 hours."

Reuters Africa
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLE570313

Madagascar leader rejects opposition power claim

By LOVASA RABARY-RAKOTONDRAVONY

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Madagascar's isolated president resisted demands to quit Saturday and denied opposition claims that it now controlled the government.
Opposition leader Andry Rajoelina had given President Marc Ravalomanana four hours to dissolve the government and give up the leadership of this poor Indian Ocean island of 20 million people. The opposition moved without resistance into the offices of the prime minister and proclaimed its own premier on Saturday.

"There is only one solution. The resignation of Marc Ravalomanana," Rajoelina told a crowd of about 10,000 jubilant demonstrators.

But Ravalomanana, who has repeatedly waged and won power struggles with opponents, remained defiant even though he no longer has much evident support from the military.
He issued a statement saying that the opposition did not have "the power bestowed by democratic elections."

"This movement is and remains a street protest which uses terror and repression to survive. A self-proclamation does not equate to legitimate power." He said he continued to recognize his own prime minister and not the opposition's choice.
It is the second time Rajoelina, a former disc jockey who became mayor of the capital, has declared himself president. The first time Ravalomonana prevailed, but now his power base has completely disappeared.

The opposition on Thursday proclaimed its own commander in chief of the armed forces without any resistance, and Friday said it gained control of tanks, prompting the president to go on national radio to warn against any assassination attempts. At Saturday's rally, the head of the national assembly who was formerly a close ally of Ravalomonana also called on the president to quit.

Rajoelina said earlier he hoped the handover would be peaceful, seeking to ease the president's fears that he would be assassinated.

"I have clean hands. I have no intention of killing him (Ravalomanana). I have no intention of sending in tanks and soldiers," said Rajoelina who appeared for the first time since going into hiding two weeks ago to evade arrest.

"There is only one solution, the resignation of the head of state," said Jacques Sylla. "As president of the national assembly, I have to recognize reality."

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hfV75EHUookBtBk2OlprGZBpDTzgD96TSC500

Reuters Africa: Madagascar opposition has no legal power - presidency

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar opposition members are inside the prime minister's office but they have no legal power and the movement remains a street protest, an aide to the president said on Saturday.

"They are in the premature but they are not vested with the power given by the people, through a democratic vote. This is and remains until now a street protest, using fear and repression to survive," the aide, who declined to be named, said.

"It is unclear right now whether the whole of the army is behind the opposition. The president is still at Iavoloha (presidential palace)."

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE52D05Q20090314

Opposition deadline nears for Madagascan leader to go

By Richard Lough and Alain Iloniaina

ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) - Madagascar's opposition leader Andry Rajoelina emerged from hiding on Saturday to tell thousands of his supporters he was giving President Marc Ravalomanana four hours to step down.

Rajoelina told a rally in the central square of the capital Antananarivo he was ready for a democratic handover of power on the Indian Ocean island and would go to the presidential palace to bid Ravalomanana goodbye.

"We will wait four hours," Rajoelina said. "The hands of Andry Rajoelina are clean. I don't intend to kill him ... I don't want to send tanks and soldiers to the palace."

Flanked by tight security, he made a 'V' for victory sign before issuing his ultimatum to the supporters thronging the square that has been the epicentre of previous uprisings.

The political crisis has been running since the beginning of 2009, killing more than 135 people, damaging Madagascar's image as a sound destination for foreign investment and crippling the island's $390 million a year tourist industry.

With minutes left to the deadline there were no signs of any opposition demonstrators or military going to the palace, which is some 10 kms (6 miles) from the city centre. Instead, there were thousands of presidential supporters blocking the road.

The divided army is increasingly looking to be the arbiter of power in Madagascar and Ravalomanana's supporters said they had been told to step aside if soldiers came to the palace.

"We are here to say to the world that we are behind our democratically elected president. Why bring the government down?" said Robertine Rassoamalala, 59, a retired resident.

"We've had orders to clear the road if the military arrive. We are not human shields," she told Reuters.

Rajoelina, 34, a former disc jockey, had been under U.N. protection since fleeing attempts to arrest him last week. He calls the president a dictator and has tapped into deep public resentment at Ravalomanana's failure to tackle poverty.

ARMY KEY

Earlier, opposition members seized control of the prime minister's office, declared they had assumed the powers of the presidency and pledged to hold elections within two years.

An aide to the president said the opposition had no legal authority and that Ravalomanana remained in his palace.

"This is and remains until now a street protest, using fear and repression to survive," the aide, who declined to be named, said. "It is unclear right now whether the whole of the army is behind the opposition. The president is still at Iavoloha (presidential palace)."

Ravalomanana has called on the security forces to restore law and order and said an attempt on his life would compromise the country's development. There was a heavy military presence on the streets on Saturday, but the opposition rally passed off peacefully.

Several opposition demonstrations have ended in violence after the security forces stepped in.

Ravalomanana has come under growing pressure to go. Dissidents in the army have called upon him to resign, although they have ruled out installing a military junta.

Rebel troops ousted the former chief of staff a day after he issued the island's feuding leaders a three-day ultimatum to end the impasse or face a military intervention. The soldiers said they had hidden tanks in the capital as precautionary tactic.

European Union mission head Jean-Claude Boidin told Reuters any "non-constitutional" solution to the political impasse -- meaning a coup -- would lead to a suspension of aid.

Madagascar's capital, a city of faded French grandeur perched on steep slopes, is one of Africa's poorest where many live without electricity or running water and eke out a grim existence on less than two dollars a day.

Caught in the middle of the crisis is an increasingly weary population. Some fear a Rajoelina takeover would not be the end.

"It's not over yet. The U.N. won't accept this because the president's mandate still has three years to run. Nor will the president accept easily," said student Sitraka Andriananson.

© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE52D06G20090314?sp=true

AFP: Rajoelina donne 4 heures au président pour quitter le pouvoir

Le chef de l'opposition malgache Andry Rajoelina a demandé samedi au président Marc Ravalomanana de quitter le pouvoir "dans les quatre heures" et s'est dit "prêt à une passation démocratique", lors d'un rassemblement de ses partisans à Antananarivo

"Il n'y a pas d'autres solutions que la démission de Ravalomanana dans les quatre heures à venir", a lancé le leader de l'opposition devant une foule d'au moins 15.000 personnes rassemblées sur la place du 13-Mai dans la capitale.

"Je suis prêt à une passation démocratique (des pouvoirs) avec Ravalomanana", a-t-il poursuivi affirmant qu'il n'enverrait "pas les forces armées" vers le palais d'Iavoloha où se trouverait le chef de l'Etat.

"Je suis prêt à aller (au palais) d'Iavoloha pour lui serrer la main et lui demander de quitter humblement le pouvoir pour que le monde puisse voir que même les jeunes peuvent prendre le pouvoir", a déclaré le leader âgé de 34 ans.

Peu avant ce discours, l'opposition avait affirmé avoir pris le pouvoir à Madagascar.

AFP

BBC: Malagasy leader given ultimatum

Madagascar's opposition leader has threatened to lead marchers to the presidential palace if President Marc Ravalomanana does not step down.

Andry Rajoelina, who emerged from hiding to address a mass rally in the capital, said the president should resign "humbly" within hours.

His followers have begun forming their own government.

But after the opposition's deadline passed, Mr Ravalomanana was still refusing to stand down.
"I am still president," he said after emerging from the presidential palace outside the capital, Antananarivo, to address hundreds of supporters.

An aide to Mr Rajoelina, who did not wish to be named, said after the deadline had passed that the opposition was still waiting for the president to quit.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher reports that the opposition does not seem to have the appetite for a violent confrontation with the president and his supporters and prefer, instead, to keep turning up the pressure.

Nor, our correspondent adds, has there been any indication that the opposition would settle for a coalition with Mr Ravalomanana.

The Indian Ocean island nation has been rocked by seven weeks of riots, protests and looting which have left about 100 people dead.

The opposition leader - who was sacked by the government as mayor of the capital last month - went into hiding on 5 March after security forces tried to arrest him.
On Saturday, 5,000 of his supporters, clad in orange T-shirts and hats, gathered as Mr Rajoelina reappeared to speak at Antananarivo's 13 May Plaza.

"There is only one demand, that's the departure of Ravalomanana," the 34-year-old businessman and former DJ said.

"I, Andry Rajoelina, am ready to carry out the democratic handover of power."
He added that he was going to the presidential palace "to say goodbye".
Mr Rajoelina - who accuses the president of being a tyrant who misspends public money - has been trying to establish an alternative cabinet, with himself as president.

On Wednesday, the leader of a widening mutiny within the army ousted the chief of staff and a day later the military police said it would no longer take orders from the government.

The crisis has hurt the country's economy. Its tourist industry, worth nearly $400m (£290m) a year, has now had two months with no revenue.
Under President Ravalomanana, Madagascar's economy opened to foreign investment but 70% of the nation's 20 million population still live on incomes of less than $2 (£1.40) a day.

news.bbc.co.uk