Backlash
On the same day, Malagasy navy troops called for Rajoelina's resignation by 25 March, threatening to use force otherwise to protect the constitution of Madagascar. According to their statement, the navy troops "condemn all violence against civilians" committed by the army corps in March and denounce Rajoelina for the "civil war occurring in Madagascar". The navy troops claimed that there was "irrefutable" evidence that Rajoelina had paid the army corps hundreds of millions of ariaries and that they should face trials in accordance with military law. The navy troops called for other nations not to get involved in what they considered a purely domestic affair.
In a recorded message from Ravalomanana played to around 10,000 of supporters on 25 March, Ravalomanana encouraged people to "save the nation, defend the union and our national unity" because Rajoelina's government was "destroying our country with their coup."
Also on 25 March, Rajoelina invited Ravalomanana's political party to join other political parties, unions, and business leaders to discuss reconciliation on 2 and 3 April. Rajoelina said the meeting would also include planning for the next elections. Rajoelina said he would appoint the members of the group who would organize the meeting. Ravalomanana's political party, Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM), did not immediately comment on whether it would participate in those meetings.
On 26 March, Rajoelina's justice minister said that Rajoelina had given a presidential pardon to 28 "political prisoners" and that more would be pardoned in the future. Members of TIM spoke to the crowd. The names of the pardoned individuals were not made public.
About 6,000 people who supported Ravalomanana assembled in a park in downtown Antananarivo on 26 March, the fourth consecutive of such protests. Members of TIM spoke to the crowd. Referring to the reconciliation meeting proposed by Rajoelina, the speakers said that Ravalomanana would be involved only if he were recognized at the meeting as Madagascar's elected president and only if the United Nations, Southern African Development Community, or another neutral, international body organized the meeting. The speakers urged Ravalomanana to leave Swaziland, return to Madagascar, and call the bicameral parliament back in session. One speaker said that elections should only be held after Ravalomanana was reinstated as president. Following the speeches, security forces fired tear gas and shot bullets into the air to disperse the crowd.
The following day, about 6,000 people who supported Ravalomanana assembled again, the fifth such demonstration in five consecutive days. Police used tear gas on the assembled individuals at the end of the event, as they did at the end of the previous day's demonstration.
On 28 March, between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters assembled for the sixth consecutive day. In a recorded message played to the assembled crowd, Ravalomanana encouraged his supporters to continue protesting and gave assurance that he would return to Madagascar soon. While marching towards the 13 May Plaza, the same location that Rajoelina's supporters had assembled earlier in the year, police fired their weapons into the air and used tear gas to disperse the crowds, resulting in a stampede that injured 34 people. A young protester named "Razily", who was seen in a video of the 28 March protests carrying the Malagasy flag at the head of the protests before being publicly beaten and carted off by police, became a cause célèbre when the video was distributed online; he has not been seen since his arrest. Police said they were trying to keep Ravalomanana's supporters from confronting Rajoelina's supporters. In response to the police actions, Ravalomanana's supporters encouraged a general strike on 30 March, saying, "Students should not go to school, office workers should stop their work and the private sector should stop paying taxes so as not to support an illegal regime." Protests continued nearly every day thereafter.
On 31 March, Rajoelina announced the individuals who would constitute the cabinet of his transitional administration for 24 months until elections are held. Rajoelina compared himself to Ravalomana, saying that Ravalomanana was not immediately accepted by world leaders when he came to power in 2002. Rajoelina reiterated his previous statements that other countries should not "interfere" with his rise to the presidency of Madagascar. Rajoelina also announced a freeze of all mining contracts with foreign companies, saying that the foreign companies are not paying the fees and royalties that are legally due to Madagascar.
Still asserting that he was the legitimate president, Ravalomanana announced from exile that he was appointing Manandafy Rakotonirina as Prime Minister on 16 April. Ravalomanana made this announcement by telephone at a rally of his supporters in Antananarivo, with Rakotonirina in attendance.
On 20 April, people gathered in Antananarivo to listen to Ravalomanana speak by telephone and protest the closure of two radio stations, Radio Fahazavana and Radio Mada, the latter of which is owned by Ravalomanana. When the protesters began marching to a courthouse in the center of the city, police used tear gas to disperse the crowds and then fired their guns. A BBC reporter witnessed a protester killed after being shot in the back at close range. Another protester was also killed and twenty people went to the hospital for injuries sustained during the protests. The following day, thousands of people assembled to mourn the two deaths. Prime Minister Roindefo Monja announced that "all demonstrations are banned, including those in support of Andry Rajoelina, in order to restore law and order." Despite the ban, a demonstration was held the following day. Over a thousand people assembled to protest, fewer in number and shorter in duration as compared in previous days.
Cars and trucks were set on fire and people were looting in Antananarivo on 23 April. Police used tear gas, detonators, and gun fire to break up protests. Six protesters were arrested.
After Ravalomanana appointed him as Prime Minister, Rakotonirina began working out of the Carlton hotel in Antananarivo, and he appointed ministers to occupy the key government portfolios on 28 April. Soldiers with a warrant for Rakotonirina's arrest stormed the Carlton and arrested him on 29 April; they found him hiding in a bathroom after searching for about an hour. A spokesperson for Rajoelina described Rakotonirina as "the mastermind of last week's violence". Also in late April, Rajoelina's government informed the AU that it was prepared to hold an election by the end of 2009, earlier than it had previously stated.
Read more about this topic: 2009 Malagasy Political Crisis