Johannesburg — The people of Madagascar face an uncertain week with an arrest warrant out for the self-proclaimed president and opposition leader, Marc Ravalomanana, who was 'sworn-in' as leader of the island nation last Friday and is now under the protection of large crowds surrounding his home in the capital.
On Sunday, Ravalomanana called for a referendum to determine whether he should be confirmed as head of state. He told the BBC he wanted the referendum held in order to prove his support among the Malagasy people and to legalise his position as president.
He has accused the incumbent president, Didier Ratsiraka, of robbing him of the December presidential poll and says only a referendum could end the political stand-off which has rocked Madagascar since the election and pitted the two contenders against each other.
Some hours after Ravalomanana declared himself president on Friday, Ratsirakas government imposed a state of emergency in Madagascar, granting the authorities sweeping new powers to crack down on the opposition, banning demonstrations and public gatherings. Ratsiraka, who is still hoping for constitutional re-election, can now pass laws by decree.
Ravalomanana contested government-announced results of the December presidential election which put the Antananarivo mayor in the lead, ahead of Ratsiraka, but gave him less than the 50% he needed to avoid a second round run-off. Ravalomanana maintains he swept to outright victory in the elections, with 52% percent of the vote.
The Organisation of African Unity, which brokered talks to try to end the deadlock, set a new date for the poll on 24 March, a delay of one month. Ratsiraka has said he will comply. Initially Ravalomanana also seemed ready to honour the agreement, but then decided to repudiate the process.
On Sunday night, thousands of Ravalomanana supporters were still manning barricades around his hilltop residence in the capital, Antananarivo, to prevent any attempt to arrest their leader or remove him from his home. Ravalomanana told the Associated Press news agency: "The government is now saying they want to arrest me. I declared myself president and they want to arrest me now - Im not accepting it and I believe the Madagascar people will (not accept it)".
Earlier Sunday, tens of thousands of his supporters, and religious leaders from the four main churches in the country, held an open air service in the main square, in defiance of the emergency laws now in force in Madagascar.
Ravalomanana, the 52 year old, millionaire businessman and popular mayor of Antananarivo, is also a senior official in the Protestant church of Madagascar. Reporters described him holding a bible and singing hymns in the midst of his supporters.
Some church leaders attended Ravalomananas investititure on Friday. On Sunday, they prayed together for international recognition of his unilateral announcement that he is now president.
So far, there has been only international condemnation and criticism of Ravalomananas decision to go it alone. The organisation of African Unity, the United Nations and neighbouring and Western governments have called on the two presidential rivals in Madagascar to start talking again. Ravalomanana told reporters from the international community that this was "not surprising (but) not logical". "They must come here and see what Madagascar people think. I have exhausted all possibilities for negotiation. The international community has never succeeded in convincing the rival camp to check vote tallies," he said.
Ravalomanana's move to seize power has left the Indian Ocean island in a tense political limbo, with analysts saying it is unclear who holds real power in Madagascar. Last week, the military declared that it would remain neutral in the crisis and was ready to protect the citizens of the island. Ravalomanana has called on the army to support the Malagasy, but acknowledged that to take effective control of the country, he needs the backing of the military as well as the people and the churches. "I have to discuss issues with the army first to know exactly whats going to happen, because we cannot build this country if the army is not with us," he said.
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The government says it is now concentrating on getting the civil service and other public services back up and running. They have been heavily disrupted by weeks of daily protests and a general strike, organised in January, by Ratsirakas supporters which paralysed Antananarivo and brought the country to a near halt.
Fuel shortages have led to long lines of motorists at petrol stations in the capital. Ratsirakas followers outside Antananarivo imposed their own three-day embargo, blocking roads leading from the main commercial ports of Toamasina and Mahajanga to the city. They vowed to continue their action until Ravalomananas supporters gave up their protests in Antananarivos main square.
