ANTANANARIVO: Madagascar’s longtime former leader Didier Ratsiraka, a naval officer and instigator of a socialist revolution on the Indian Ocean island, died Sunday morning aged 84, president Andry Rajoelina announced.

“The Malagasy have lost an illustrious patriot,” Rajoelina posted on Twitter.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Nicknamed “Deba”, Malagasy for ‘bad guy’ and ‘boss’, Ratsiraka was in power from 1975 until 1991 and returned for another stint from 1997 to 2002.