Madagascar’s constitutional high court yesterday confirmed Andry Rajoelina as the acting president of the republic, according to a document obtained by AFP.
The confirmation came one day after the military installed the opposition leader in office, rejecting former president Marc Ravalomanana’s attempt to cede power to them.
Ravalomanana stepped down on Tuesday as president, intending to transfer rule to a military directorate. But in a ceremony broadcast from a military camp in the capital, Vice Admiral Hyppolite Rarison Ramaroson said the military was installing Rajoelina, even though at 34, he is too young to be president according to the Constitution.
Rajoelina has been leading anti-government rallies, accusing Ravalomanana of misspending public funds and undermining democracy in Madagascar.
Over the weekend, Rajoelina declared himself president of a transitional government and promised new presidential elections within two years.
Rajoelina told the French television station LCI he had the support of “soldiers, government workers, unions, that is to say all the country’s key groups.”
“Power belongs to the people,” Rajoelina said. “The people give power, the people can take it back.”
Despite losing support at home, Ravalomanana had been backed by the international community because he was the democratically elected president.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is “gravely concerned about the evolving developments in Madagascar,” associate spokeswoman Marie Okabe said at UN headquarters in New York.
The US State Department on Tuesday ordered all nonessential staff at the US embassy in Madagascar and the families of all US personnel there to leave the country because of the uncertain security situation.
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