Roland Ratsiraka

Iarovana Roland Ratsiraka (born August 15 1966) is a Malagasy politician.

Born in Antananarivo, Roland is the nephew of former President Didier Ratsiraka. He studied both in Madagascar and in France, before founding several companies.

In 1996, Roland's uncle appointed him Director of Propaganda for the Tamatave region. In 1998, he founded the regional political association Toamsina Tonga Saina (TTS), and was elected to the National Assembly of Madagascar as a Deputy for Toamasina. In 1999, he was elected as Mayor of the city, but the post was suspended in 2002.

In the municipal election held on November 23 2003, [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20040225041524/http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=153&ART=2309 "Toamasina - Ville; Début d'une tension politique ?"] , "Madagascar Tribune", N° 4513, November 24, 2003 fr icon.] Ratsiraka, as the TTS candidate, was victorious, regaining his position as Mayor and defeating Barnest Andriamiarantsoa, the candidate of the ruling Tiako i Madagasikara (TIM). His victory was officially announced on December 8 by the provincial electoral court. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20041114025355/http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=166&ART=2542 "Municipales à Toamasina I; Roland Ratsiraka, vainqueur officiel"] , "Madagascar Tribune", N° 4526, December 9, 2003.]

Ratsiraka stood in the 2006 presidential election, held on December 3, and he placed third, with 10.14% of the votes cast, according to final results. In his home province of Toamasina, he won 34.74% of the vote, two points less than the winner of the election, incumbent president Marc Ravalomanana. He also received significant support in Antsiranana Province, where he won 20.39% of the vote. [ [http://www.hcc.gov.mg/election-2006/resultat-2006.php 2006 presidential election results] from the High Constitutional Court fr icon.] Following the release of the provisional results, which showed Ravalomanana winning in the first round, Ratsiraka, along with second place candidate Jean Lahiniriko, said that the results were false, and on December 11 he filed a challenge with the Constitutional High Court regarding the election. [Jonny Hogg, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/12/11/international/i131943S89.DTL&type=politics "Opposition to Challenge Madagascar Vote"] , Associated Press (sfgate.com), December 11, 2006.]

Ratsiraka was suspended as Mayor beginning on February 15 2007, [http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article&id_article=31700 "Roland Ratsiraka, le maire de Toamasina en Madagascar, placé sous mandat de dépôt"] , African Press Agency, April 19, 2007 fr icon.] [http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=1136&ART=22140 "Le maire Roland Ratsiraka; Suspendu du 15 février au 15 mars"] , "Madagascar Tribune", N° 5489, February 17, 2007 fr icon.] initially for a period of one month. On April 19 2007, he was arrested and imprisoned for alleged corruption [ [http://www.madagascar-tribune.com/index.php?JOURNAL=1186&ART=23124 "Roland Ratsiraka et six de ses compagnons, jetés en prison"] , "Madagascar Tribune", N° 5538, April 20, 2007 fr icon.] related to garbage collection. His supporters protested on his behalf in Toamasina, but after looting occurred they were banned from doing so. [ [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/AMMF-747CSW?OpenDocument "FAST Update Madagascar: Trends in conflict and cooperation Apr - May 2007"] , Swiss Peace Foundation (reliefweb.int), May 31, 2007.]

On October 5 2007, Ratsiraka was given an 18-month deferred sentence and released on the same day. [ [http://apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=43513 "Malagasy opposition leader released from detention"] , African Press Agency, October 6, 2007.]

References

External links

* [http://www.madanight.com/viewarticle_697.htm Présidentielles 2007 : Roland Ratsiraka affiche sa détermination et son ambition] fr icon
* [http://www.rolandratsiraka.com/parcours.html RolandRatsiraka.com: Parcours] fr icon