Madagascar president: Giving up power was 'very hard' (3rd Roundup)

Mar 17, 2009, 18:32 GMT

Opposition leader and Antananarivo Mayor, Andry Rajoelina ,waves victoriously at his supporters after proclaiming himself President of Madagascar at the presidential offices, Antananarivo, Madagascar, 17 March 2009. Soldiers loyal to Rajoelina attacked the palace over night as the countries power struggle continues. EPA/KIM LUDBROOK

Antananarivo - Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana on Tuesday said handing over power after seven years as leader of the Indian Ocean island had been 'very hard' to do as he entrusted a team of senior military officers with the running of the country.

Speaking on national TVM television, the 59-year-old leader, who looked tired after a protracted power struggle with the opposition, said the decision to give up power had been difficult because he was the 'legal president.'

His announcement that he is renouncing power came after he lost control of government and the army. The opposition had pushed for his exit, accusing Ravalomanana of authoritarianism and misrule.

Ravalomanana thanked the European Union and other countries for their support for Madagascar's development and said he hoped order would quickly be restored to the impoverished country of 20 million people after seven weeks of unrest that have cost over 100 lives.

He was speaking from his palace south of the capital Antananarivo, where he has been holed up for days. Hundreds of his supporters, who had been maintaining a vigil there, appeared to have disappeared Tuesday evening after the barricades they were mounting were destroyed by troops.

Shots were heard coming from the area as the army, whose leader supports opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, destroyed the barricades Tuesday evening.

Ravalomanana's capitulation did not however appease Rajoelina who had wanted to directly take power.

A spokeswoman for Rajoelina, who has announced his own interim government and proposes to hold elections within two years, said the former mayor of the capital rejected Ravalomanana's handover of power.

'We can read,' said Annick Andriananpianina. 'It's a transfer of power, not a resignation,' she added.

Andriananpianina also confirmed reports that the army had arrested navy vice-admiral Hippolyte Ramaroson Rarison and four other senior officers whom Ravalomanana has entrusted with organizing a congress to discuss possible constitutional amendments and fresh elections within two years.

Asked why they were arrested, she said: 'Because they have betrayed the nation and the people. These are the people who have been corrupted by the president.'

Local radio reported that a church leader close to Ravalomanana's Protestant church, FJKM, had also been arrested.

Styming Rajoelina's ambitions of an immediate leadership role, the African Union on Tuesday urged the military not to hand over the power invested in it to the opposition.

Such a move would 'not be constitutional,' African Union commission chairman Jean Ping was quoted by Radio France Internationale as saying. The AU has already called Rajoelina's power grab an 'attempted coup d'etat.'

Rajoelina's spokeswoman said the opposition leader would wait for a decision by the constitutional court on his petition for the president to be stripped of his powers and to be allowed form an interim government before taking further action. That decision was expected Wednesday, she said.

Earlier, a triumphant Rajoelina was escorted by thousands of supporters to the presidential palace, which troops had stormed on Monday in an attempt to hasten Ravalomanana's exit. After installing himself in office, he rode through the capital flanked by troops in a sort of victory parade.

Tuesday's events brought Madagascar much closer to the denouement of a seven-week political stand-off that has claimed over 100 lives since late January.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on all parties to behave responsibly and carry out a 'smooth transition through democratic means.'

Ban said the UN and other organizations would remain engaged in helping achieve 'a peaceful, consensual solution in Madagascar.'

The killing by presidential guards of 28 unarmed demonstrators on February 7 led to a steep erosion of support for the president, who came to power in 2002 through a similar campaign of street protests. His opponent was exiled dictator Didier Ratsiraka.

The civilian killings also sparked an army mutiny.

Madagascar's already meagre economy has taken a battering from the unrest. Tourism, one of the biggest industries in the country of 20 million mainly subsistence farmers, has ground to a halt.

Ravalomanana, a millionaire in one of the world's poorest countries, had persistently refused to step down, saying he was the country's rightful leader after being re-elected for another five years in 2006.