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Madagascar coup plot stokes pressure on Rajoelina

18 November 2010 18:57 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. An attempt by a handful of dissident troops to take over the government of Madagascar appeared to be foundering on Thursday but their rebellion increased pressure on President Andry Rajoelina to step down, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.
A 20-strong group of officers announced on Wednesday they had dissolved government institutions and set up a military council to run the country, but by mid-afternoon on Thursday no further actions had been taken and they had not seized the presidential palace as promised.
Rebel ringleader Colonel Charles Andrianasoavina, reached by telephone in his barbed-wire protected bunker, dismissed reports they were in talks with the government to negotiate a peaceful resolution.
"There are no negotiations. It isn’t us who will make the first steps," Andrianasoavina told Reuters.
One military chief, General Andrianazary, said talks between armed force bosses and the rebels were going on but that these were not negotiations.
Former President Albert Zafy said he supported the rebels and called on the 36-year-old Rajoelina to quit office.
Rajoelina, a boyish-looking former DJ who drove former leader Marc Ravalomanana into exile in March 2009, has dismissed the rebels as an irrelevant minority. Military leaders have backed him.
Zafy initially backed Rajoelina’s leadership claim on the condition he stuck to an internationally brokered power-sharing deal, but turned against him when Rajoelina formed his own government.
"If there are officers who say things are bad, it is because corruption, bad governance and a lack of respect for the people are proven," Zafy told Reuters.
The capital of faded French colonial grandeur was calm on Thursday and the international airport, which the rebels had threatened to seize, was running normally with no security forces visible.
But recurring political ructions over the past year have hammered the economy in the world’s fourth largest island, where foreign firms are developing its oil, nickel, cobalt and uranium deposits.
REFERENDUM TURNOUT JUST UNDER 50 PERCENT
The unrest on Wednesday coincided with a referendum on a new draft constitution that would lower the minimum age for a president to 35, allowing Rajoelina to stay in office until elections slated for May 4, 2011, and to run again.
Provisional results from around 1,000 of the more than 18,000 polling stations showed the "Yes" camp well ahead but turnout was just under 50 percent.
Analysts expect the referendum to pass, but say a strong turnout is essential to support Rajoelina’s claims he has the people’s backing.
Analysts expect the referendum to pass, but say a strong turnout is essential to support Rajoelina’s assertions that he commands the people’s backing.
The ex-mayor of Antananarivo rode to power on the back of protests against Ravalomanana’s increasingly autocratic rule. But Rajoelina’s failure to deliver on populist pledges has eroded his popularity.
With the military top brass quickly falling in line behind him, Rajoelina has seemed unruffled by the attack on his leadership. "This is a military affair. We are still examining exactly what they want," a general told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
One rebel, General Noel Rakotonandrasana, was sacked as armed forces minister in April after rumors of a planned coup.
France’s foreign ministry said a military coup would only deepen the former French colony’s political crisis.
"Malagasy authorities say they are in control of the situation. It is up to them to resolve this mutiny, with respect to human rights," spokeswoman Christine Fages said.