Tens of thousands of opposition supporters protested against the president in Madagascar's capital on Wednesday, two days after an earlier rally descended into violence that killed nearly 40 people. Witnesses in Antananarivo's main square, May 13 Plaza, estimated the crowd as at least 40,000 strong.
"We are here to tell the president that there are many problems. This is a society in decline," said one demonstrator who asked not to be named, accusing President Marc Ravalomanana of dirty politics and unfair distribution of wealth. Armed police were watching, but unlike the chaos and looting after Monday's opposition demonstration, the mood was calm.
The political crisis is denting Madagascar's image as a popular tourist venue and attractive destination for foreign investment in its mining and oil exploration sectors. Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina, a 34-year-old firebrand politician who calls the president a dictator, has been spearheading protests since the government shut his private radio and television station in December.
At the rally, he called for a shutdown of the capital's schools and businesses on Thursday and another mass demonstration on Saturday. Rajoelina led tens of thousands of his supporters in silence as prayers were said over the body of a young boy killed during the anti-government demonstrations.
Ravalomanana, 59, a self-made dairy tycoon who used to hawk yoghurt on the streets of Antananarivo, accuses his rival of trying to overthrow the government. "I appeal to people to remain calm," Ravalomanana said next to a state media compound that protesters torched on Monday. The death toll from Monday's violence rose when the fire service said up to 37 corpses of suspected looters had been found in a store burned during the unrest.
The macabre find in the shell of a three-storey clothes store would take the death toll from this week's violence to at least 39. "It is hard to determine the precise numbers because the bodies are badly damaged, and there are limbs scattered all over," said the fire officer in charge of searching the store.
AFRICAN UNION WORRIED The top diplomat for the African Union (AU) said the unrest risked destabilising Madagascar and urged dialogue. Jean Ping "is deeply concerned by the prevailing political tension and the risk it poses to the stability of the country," the AU said in a statement from Ethiopia. "He urges all stakeholders to resolve the current crisis through dialogue and respect for constitutional order and legality."
The government shut the mayor's radio and television station last month after it ran an interview with former President Didier Ratsiraka from France. "It is treason to send in commandos to shut down a TV station with no notice. We are here for a return to transparent politics," the demonstrator said. The world's fourth largest island, Madagascar has a history of political unrest.
In December 2001, both Ravalomanana and his predecessor Ratsiraka claimed victory in a presidential election. Eight months of instability and sporadic violence followed before a court upheld Ravalomanana's victory.
Ratsirika fled to France. Major foreign investors in Madagascar include global miner Rio Tinto and Canada's Sherritt International, which plan to extract nickel, bauxite, cobalt and Ilmenite. With the unrest restricted to the capital, however, Rio Tinto said its operations in Fort Dauphin in the south were not affected.