Marc Ravalomanana

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Marc Ravalomanana (2017)

Marc Ravalomanana (born December 12, 1949 in Imerinkasinina , Antananarivo Province ) was President of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009 .

Life

Ravalomanana is a member of the Merina ethnic group that ruled the former kingdom of Madagascar before the island was forcibly annexed by France in 1896.

As a child, he carried milk for his parents' business and sold yoghurt on the streets of the Malagasy capital Antananarivo . At the age of 33, he was able to convert the family business into a large dairy with a loan from the World Bank . TIKO was the largest company in the country until his resignation as president. Today the factory halls and farms, mainly at Antsirabe , lie fallow. Ravalomanana now has a wide-ranging industrial empire, which includes the food company TIKO, a construction company (ALMA) and the media company Malagasy Broadcasting System and the daily newspaper Le Quotidien. This fact has already brought him the comparison with the Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi several times .

Political career

In 1999 Ravalomanana went into politics and became mayor of Antananarivo. On May 6, 2002, at the age of 52, he was sworn in as President of the Republic. In the 2001 elections he had narrowly won against his predecessor Didier Ratsiraka . First a runoff election was supposed to make the final decision, but this was then canceled because Ravalomanana could prove that he had received over 50% of the votes. Ratsiraka still refused to acknowledge his defeat. By late February, Ravalomanana had gained control of the capital Antananarivo, which had always been its base, but Ratsiraka controlled most of the provinces. Within a few months, however, Ravalomanana had gained the upper hand in a fight, and after Ratsiraka lost support in many provinces, he fled the country on July 5.

Ravalomanana practiced an ultra-liberal economic policy under the strict supervision of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund . This policy initially achieved a rapid economic recovery in the country, which had been ruined by decades of socialist mismanagement; In addition, there was a rapid improvement in the road network thanks to an intensive road construction policy. Education policy also had high priority. On the other hand, the population bore a very heavy economic burden, as the rate of inflation had increased and essential foodstuffs, especially rice, had become expensive for most of the Malagasy people. In particular in the political leadership as well as in the social and cultural policy, observers found considerable weaknesses.

In the fight against ubiquitous corruption , he achieved only moderate success. In particular, the corrupt judiciary and the resulting lack of legal security are major obstacles to development for the country. Among others, Ravalomanana, himself Vice-President of the Association of Evangelical Churches in Madagascar (FJKM), supports the Christian churches of the multi-religious country.

The most important international partners of his government were the USA , Germany , the European Union , South Korea and, despite a certain distance, still France . Increased cooperation with the African Union (including Senegal ) was sought. Madagascar also became a member of SADC , the regional economic union of 15 countries in southern Africa.

On April 7, 2006 Ravalomanana was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in the "Special Level of the Grand Cross" (highest order) by Federal President Horst Köhler .

Re-election and resignation

On November 18, 2006, General Andrianafidisoa tried unsuccessfully to overthrow President Ravalomanana. On December 3, 2006, Ravalomanana was re-elected for another term as president.

In January and February 2009 demonstrations took place in the capital against the leadership of Ravalomanana, who was accused of corruption and enrichment. In connection with these rallies - led by Andry Rajoelina - numerous demonstrators were killed by the use of firearms by the security forces.

After a revolt by parts of the army , Ravalomanana fled the capital and resigned as president on March 17, 2009.

In June 2009, Ravalomanana, who went into exile in South Africa , was sentenced in absentia to four years in prison in Madagascar. In August 2010, he was found guilty of murder and accessory to murder, his lawyer Hanitra Razafimanantsoa announced in the capital, Antananarivo. She described the decision as politically motivated.

2018 presidential election

In the 2018 presidential election on November 7th, Ravalomanana - supported by his party TIM ("Tiako I Madagasikara", English: "I like Madagascar") (TIM) - is running as a candidate with the number 25.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/09/AR2006120900959_Inform.html
  2. ↑ Bloody riots in Madagascar The Daewoo Deal taz February 11, 2009
  3. ↑ The military is split
  4. ^ Spiegel Online: Military wants to hand over power to opposition leaders
  5. ↑ Reuters: FACTBOX-Madagascar's Ravalomanana, a fallen leader , reuters.com from June 3, 2009 (accessed October 15, 2018)
  6. ↑ Madagascar prevents Ravalomanana from returning from exile , derstandard.at of January 21, 2012 (accessed October 15, 2018)
  7. ↑ Décision n ° 26-HCC / D3 du 22 août 2018 arrêtant la liste définitive des candidats au premier tour de l'élection présidentielle du 7 novembre 2018 , hcc.gov.mg of 22 August 2018 (accessed on 19 October 2018)

Web links

Commons : Marc Ravalomanana  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Ravalomanana, Marc
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Malagasy politician, President of Madagascar
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Imerinkasinina, Antananarivo Province