Cape Town — Madagascar's ousted president, Marc Ravalomanana, may be down but he is not out.
After being removed from power in March by Andry Rajoelina, the former mayor of Antananarivo and currently the head of a transitional authority ruling the country, Ravalomanana has mounted a fight-back which includes vigorous diplomatic activity and a sophisticated public relations campaign.
Boosted by the condemnation of Rajoelina's power-grab by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community, Ravalomanana has based himself in South Africa, from where he flies to Gaborone and Mbabane for meetings with the leaders of Botswana and Swaziland and lobbies influential figures such as former United Nations chief Kofi Annan by telephone.
He has spoken by phone to crowds of "legalistes" - as his supporters like to call themselves - demonstrating on the streets of the capital. His backers e-mail photographs of the protests to the media.
When South African President Jacob Zuma was inaugurated 10 days ago, photos of Ravalomanana arriving in his capacity as the still-recognized Malagasy head of state were e-mailed to journalists long before the host government's PR photographs were posted.
Now, in his latest move, Ravalomanana has posted an address to the international community on a YouTube account called "MadagascarPresidency".
Speaking in separate French and English clips, Ravalomanana "demands" that "the illegitimate coup regime step aside and make way for the return of the democratically-elected government" and calls on the world community to withhold diplomatic recognition and avoid business dealings with Rajoelina's government.
