Antananarivo: A former disc
jockey who seized power in Madagascar is defying international
efforts to resolve the crisis on an Indian Ocean island known
for its rare wildlife and fractious politics.
Emmanuel Rakotovahiny, a top aide to one of Madagascar's
former presidents, said today that the latest moves by Andry
Rajoelina were "an illegal decision made by an illegal
authority."
Rajoelina, who took power in March with the military's
backing, yesterday declared "null and void" agreements
sponsored by international mediators to create a transitional
coalition.
The transitional government, in which Rakotovahiny
was a co-president and representative of former President
Albert Zafy, was to have organised elections by November 2010.
Instead, Rajoelina has named his own prime minister -- a
top ranking military official -- and unilaterally declared he
would hold elections in March, 2010.
"In making this decision, Rajoelina is jettisoning
consensus and returning to his own agenda, that of taking
power by force and unconstitutionally," said Fetison
Andrianirina, the second co-president in the transitional
government and a representative of the president Rajoelina
ousted in March, Marc Ravalomanana.
Rajoelina was president of
the proposed transitional coalition, with the two
co-presidents acting as checks on his power.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, December 22, 2009, 00:34