Origins of The Conflict
In December 2007, Andry Rajoelina was elected mayor of Antananarivo. Tensions quickly grew between president Ravalomanana and the young mayor over the course of 2008 as Rajoelina became a vocal critic of a series of unpopular policies enacted by the president. He condemned what he called the "restriction of freedom" on the island, and criticized the president's plans to lease large tracts of land to the Korean company Daewoo.
On 13 December 2008, the Ravalomanana administration decided to shutter Viva TV, a television channel belonging to Rajoelina after broadcasting an interview with the former exiled president Didier Ratsiraka. Other television and radio stations that also aired the interview were not sanctioned.
Andry Rajoelina organized a series of rallies in January 2009 that took aim at the Ravalomanana administration and gave voice to growing popular resentment toward the president's increasingly authoritarian policies and a widespread perception that national development had only benefitted an elite minority of which the president was the most visible figurehead. As anti-government frustration transformed into civil unrest, two state television stations were burned by anti-government protesters. At least 130 people were killed in Madagascar during the crisis. The protests were seen as the gravest challenge faced by the Ravalomanana government since he came to office in 2002. President Ravalomanana vowed to restore order "whatever the cost", according to a government statement.
Read more about this topic: 2009 Malagasy Political Crisis
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