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Marc Ravalomanana
Ravalomanana in 2017
6th President of Madagascar
In office 5 July 2002 – 17 March 2009
Prime Minister
Tantely Andrianarivo
Jacques Sylla
Charles Rabemananjara
Preceded by
Didier Ratsiraka
Succeeded by
Hyppolite Ramaroson (acting)
48th Mayor of Antananarivo
In office 14 November 1999 – 6 May 2002
Preceded by
Guy Razanamasy
Succeeded by
Patrick Ramiaramanana
Personal details
Born
(1949-12-12) 12 December 1949 (age 74) Imerinkasinina, French Madagascar
Political party
TIM (I Love Madagascar)
Spouse
Lalao Ravalomanana
(m. 1974)
Children
4
Marc RavalomananaGCSK (Malagasy:[raˌvaluˈmananə̥]; born 12 December 1949) is a Malagasy politician who served as the sixth President of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. Born into a farming Merina family in Imerinkasinina, near the capital city of Antananarivo, Ravalomanana first rose to prominence as the founder and CEO of the vast dairy conglomerate TIKO, later launching successful wholesaler MAGRO and several additional companies.
He entered politics upon founding the Tiako Iarivo political party in 1999 and successfully ran for the position of mayor of Antananarivo, holding the position from 1999 to 2001. As mayor he improved sanitary and security conditions in the city. In August 2001 he announced his candidacy as an independent candidate in the December 2001 presidential election. He then took office as president in 2002 amidst a dispute over election results in which he successfully pressed his claim to have won a majority in the first round. Under the leadership of Jacques Sylla, Ravalomanana's Prime Minister from 2002 to 2007, the political party Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM) was founded in 2002 to support Ravalomanana's presidency and came to dominate legislative and local elections. He was re-elected in December 2006, again with a majority in the first round.
During Ravalomanana's presidency, Madagascar made significant advances toward development targets and experienced an average of seven per cent growth per year. His administration oversaw the construction of thousands of new schools and health clinics. Road rehabilitation aided in improving rural farmers' access to markets. The establishment of the independent anti-corruption agency BIANCO, and the adoption of diverse supporting policies resulted in a decline in governmental corruption.
Opposition members criticized Ravalomanana in the later period of his presidency, accusing him of increasing authoritarianism and the mixing of public and private interests. In addition, the benefits of the country's growth were not evenly spread, leading to increased wealth inequality, inflation and a decline in purchasing power for the lower and middle classes. In 2008 a controversial land lease agreement with Korean agricultural firm Daewoo, the purchase of a costly presidential jet and the closure of media channels owned by opposition leader and mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, strengthened popular disapproval of his policies. Rajoelina rallied popular support for the opposition, leading to a popular uprising that began in January 2009 and ended two months later with Ravalomanana's resignation under pressure and Rajoelina taking control with military support in a power transfer viewed by the international community as a coup d'état.
From 2009 to 2012 Ravalomanana lived in exile in South Africa, where he was engaged in active negotiations with Rajoelina and former heads of state Albert Zafy and Didier Ratsiraka to organize national elections. In December 2012 he declared he would not present himself as a candidate, then a precondition to the elections being viewed as legitimate by the international community. TGV candidate Hery Rajaonarimampianina was elected president in January 2014, defeating Jean-Louis Robinson, the candidate of Marc Ravalomanana's camp. Upon attempting to return to Madagascar in October 2014 he was arrested, having been sentenced in absentia to lifelong hard labour for abuses of power by the Rajoelina administration. After his sentence was lifted and he was freed from house arrest in May 2015, Ravalomanana announced the re-opening of the Tiko business group and was re-elected the president of TIM.
MarcRavalomanana GCSK (Malagasy: [raˌvaluˈmananə̥]; born 12 December 1949) is a Malagasy politician who served as the sixth President of Madagascar from...
this position, he led an opposition movement against then-President MarcRavalomanana that culminated in a 2009 political crisis. Rajoelina was appointed...
Ravalomanana is a Malagasy surname. Notable people with this surname include: Lalao Ravalomanana (born 1953), first lady of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana...
party in Madagascar founded on July 3, 2002, to support President MarcRavalomanana. After the parliamentary election held on September 23, 2007, it was...
between January-July 2002 and ended with the swearing-in of President MarcRavalomanana and flight of former president Didier Ratsiraka. Didier Ratsiraka...
winning the 1997 election. After the 2001 election, he and his opponent MarcRavalomanana engaged in a lengthy standoff after the latter refused to participate...
President Didier Ratsiraka nor MarcRavalomanana, the two main candidates, had won a majority. However, Ravalomanana rejected the results and declared...
politician. During the 2009 Malagasy political crisis and after President MarcRavalomanana stepped down, he became acting President of Madagascar for several...
second round involving the top two candidates, Andry Rajoelina and MarcRavalomanana, was held on 19 December. On 27 December Rajoelina was announced as...
politician. He was the Prime Minister of Madagascar under President MarcRavalomanana from February 2002 to January 2007. He subsequently served as the...
Antananarivo, MarcRavalomanana, eventually emerged victorious, caused a seven-month standoff in 2002 between supporters of Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka...
husband, MarcRavalomanana, was president. Ravalomanana was born Lalao Harivelo Rakotonirainy in Antananarivo, French Madagascar. She married Marc Ravalomanana...
President MarcRavalomanana, in office since he prevailed in a dispute over election results in 2002, ran for re-election. On 9 December, Ravalomanana was declared...
placed a distant third with about 5% of the vote. Opposition candidate MarcRavalomanana prevailed in an extended dispute with Ratsiraka over the election...
president MarcRavalomanana was not present. The proposal offered by the president for a referendum to solve the crisis was rejected. On 17 March 2009, Marc Ravalomanana...
Antananarivo mayor Andry Rajoelina, which sought to oust President MarcRavalomanana from the presidency. The crisis reached its climax in the 2009 Malagasy...
Former president MarcRavalomanana lost the second round and he did not accept the results because of allegations of fraud. Ravalomanana was president from...
have excluded Antananarivo Province. Peace was restored only when MarcRavalomanana was installed as the country's president. The province was administered...
a second round, defeating Jean-Louis Robinson, the candidate of MarcRavalomanana's party. Once he was elected, Rajaonarimampianina held the world record...
the victor with nearly 54% of the vote. The last elected president, MarcRavalomanana, was unconstitutionally removed from power by mass protests led by...
for the benefit of both groups. The government of former President MarcRavalomanana was aggressively seeking foreign investment and had planned to tackle...
support to MarcRavalomanana, the opposition presidential candidate who claimed to have won the December 2001 presidential election. Ravalomanana appointed...
146 days AREMA Ratsirahonana Rakotomavo Andrianarivo Rasolondraibe 5 MarcRavalomanana (born 1949) 2001 2006 (22 February 2002) 5 July 2002 17 March 2009...
Antananarivo, MarcRavalomanana, eventually emerged victorious, caused a seven-month standoff in 2002 between supporters of Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka...
enterprise, are key elements of Madagascar's development strategy. Under MarcRavalomanana, these investments produced substantial economic growth, but the benefits...
body that came to power in Madagascar following the coup that forced MarcRavalomanana to leave the country on March 17, 2009, as a result of the 2009 Malagasy...
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