Renegade Madagascan officers vow to stay the course

Mutinous Madagascan soldiers who declared a coup three days ago maintained their stand yesterday, insisting they wanted a put an end to the country’s long drawn out crisis triggered by a 2009 putsch.

“At the moment the best solution is to not reconcile with the authorities. The essential thing is to change what is wrong in the country,” said Noel Rakotonandrasana, one of the leaders of some 20 dissident officers.

The army chief, Andre Ndriarijaona, held talks last Friday with the group holed up at military barracks outside the capital Antananarivo, and urged for calm.

Last Wednesday’s coup declaration has not been supported by the rest of the army and business in Antananarivo has gone on uninterrupted.

Madagascar has been mired in a political crisis since March 2009, when then opposition leader Andry Rajoelina toppled president Marc Ravalomanana with the army’s support.

General Rakotonandrasana himself played a critical role in the coup, following which he was named the armed forces minister. But he was later dismissed from the post on suspicion of plotting against the current regime.

“We should opt for the creation of a committee to steer towards the right direction and good governance,” the general told AFP by phone.

The US condemned the takeover bid and urged dialogue.

“The United States strongly condemns all efforts to take or maintain power through the use of force,” the US embassy said in a statement.

The coup attempt came as Madagascans voted last Wednesday in a constitutional referendum that Rajoelina’s regime is hoping will help resolve the Indian Ocean island’s crisis.

The referendum is part of an agreement between the regime and scores of smaller parties, which also calls for municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections.

Hundreds of demonstrators yesterday gathered at a square in the capital to protest against the municipal elections set for December, prompting security forces to fire teargas to break up the gathering.

The protest was called by the Madagascan Mayors’ Association, whose leader the security forces arrested as they dispersed the crowd.

Rajoelina’s main opponents, including Rajoelina and two other former presidents, called for a boycott of the referendum, accusing him of reneging on previous agreements.