By RIVONALA RAZAFISON

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Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina has resigned ahead the November 7 presidential vote.

The Constitution requires the incumbent leader to quit office 60 days before the vote if seeking re-election.

“Since I am candidate, I have to comply with the law,” he said when addressing the nation on Friday evening.

The country’s High Constitutional Court approved his resignation.

Senate leader Mr Rivo Rakotovao will be the acting head of state until the inauguration of the next president in January.

At his last Cabinet meeting on Thursday, President Rajaonarimampianina named new army generals and appointed new ambassadors to Russia and China.

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He also met the African Union High Representative for Silencing the Guns in Africa, Algerian diplomat Mr Ramtane Lamamra at State House Iavoloha.

Before announcing his resignation on Friday he held talks with the new International Monetary Fund representative in Madagascar, Mr Marc Gérard.

Mr Rajaonarimampianina is the first president to resign ahead of an election following the adoption of new electoral laws in 2010.

He faces 35 presidential aspirants among them three former head of states.

On Thursday, 16 candidates led by veteran leader Didier Ratsiraka, said they wanted the November 7 election postponed. </s> Madagascan President Hery Rajaonarimampianina's resignation comes after several protests against the president's efforts to change electoral laws in favor of his party



ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – Madagascan President Hery Rajaonarimampianina stepped down Friday, September 7, in line with the constitution, to contest elections in which he will face rivals including opposition leader and ex-president Andry Rajoelina.

Rajaonarimampianina resigned two months ahead of the November 7 vote on the Indian Ocean island that has been beset by political instability.

"The time has come for me to resign in accordance with the constitution and today I have submitted my request to the constitutional court," he said in a brief televised speech.

Mounting protests earlier this year forced Rajaonarimampianina to accept the formation of a "consensus" government tasked with organising the election.

Demonstrators took to the capital Antananarivo's central square between April and June over Rajaonarimampianina's efforts to change electoral laws that opponents said were intended to favor his party.

The proposals were overturned by the courts.

But the protests morphed into a full-blown movement to oust Rajaonarimampianina. Clashes between activists and the security forces claimed two lives and left more than a dozen injured.

Also on the ballot paper will be opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana, Rajoelina's predecessor as civilian head of state.

Rajoelina removed Ravalomanana from power in a coup in 2009.

If no candidate receives more than 50 percent in the first round, a second round of voting will be held on December 19.

Madagascar, a former French colony with a population of 25 million, has been endured decades of political crises and grinding poverty.

The country's interim leader will be senate Speaker Riko Rakotovao. –Rappler.com </s> One person died and 16 others were injured in clashes between Madagascar's security forces and thousands of opposition activists protesting against new election laws ahead of a vote later this year in the politically-volatile island nation.

"We received 17 wounded today, one of whom succumbed to his wounds," Olivat Alison Aimee Rakoto, head of the hospital HJRA in Antanannarivo, told AFP. He did not specify if the injured were protesters or police.

Authorities had earlier in the week declared the protest illegal but opposition activists defied the order and forged ahead with the demonstration which saw thousands throng a public square outside city hall in the capital of Antananarivo.

Clashes erupted after police fired tear gas to try to disperse the protesters as the crowd grew and overwhelmed the security forces, occupying the square, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Some of the opposition supporters reacted by hurling rocks at the officers.

There was no immediate comment from authorities on the protests.

The opposition has accused the government of President Hery Rajaonarimampianina of wanting to muzzle it through new electoral laws in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections due to be held in late November or December.

The opposition claims that three new laws, adopted earlier this month, favour the ruling party and put in place obstacles to the disadvantage of opponents.

Rajaonarimampianina is out of the country on official business, according to his office, which did not specify where he was.

"The message to the president of the republic who is out of the country, is that it would be good that you remain where you are," an opposition lawmaker Hanitriniaina Razafimanantsoa said.

Elected in 2013, Rajaonarimampianina has not yet announced whether he will stand for re-election.

But two former heads of state have already mooted runs: Marc Ravalomanana, who was president from 2002 to 2009, and Andry Rajoelina, who removed him during a coup.

Both were barred from running in 2013 and their parties were behind Saturday's protests.

The Indian Ocean island nation endured several years of turmoil after Ravalomanana was ousted as president in a 2009 coup that led to the withdrawal of foreign investment and donor money.

Ravalomanana was overthrown in 2009 after an army mutiny that allowed Rajoelina -- then Antananarivo mayor -- to become the country's unelected transition president until 2014.

Rajaonarimampianina's arrival in power brought an end to a long series of political crises in Madagascar. </s> Dozens of soldiers on Sunday threw a cordon around a public square in Madagascar's capital where opposition protests against new electoral laws have killed one person in the restive island nation.

They later vacated the square, clearing the way for some 100 opposition activists to gather, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

One person died and at least 17 were wounded in clashes on Saturday between thousands of opposition activists and security forces in the same square during demonstrations against new laws the opposition claims favour the ruling party and put in place obstacles to the disadvantage of opponents.

The large Indian Ocean island of Madagascar is due to hold presidential and legislative elections in late November or December.

Authorities had last week declared the Saturday protest illegal but opposition activists defied the order and forged ahead with the demonstration.

President Hery Rajaonarimampianina is out of the country on official business, according to his office, which did not specify his location.

Elected in 2013, Rajaonarimampianina has not yet announced whether he will stand for re-election.

But two former heads of state have already mooted runs: Marc Ravalomanana, who was president from 2002 to 2009, and Andry Rajoelina, who removed him during a coup.

Both were barred from running in 2013 and their parties were behind Saturday's protests.

The Indian Ocean island nation endured several years of turmoil after Ravalomanana was ousted as president in the 2009 coup that led to the withdrawal of foreign investment and donor money.

Ravalomanana was overthrown following an army mutiny that allowed Rajoelina -- then Antananarivo mayor -- to become the country's unelected transition president until 2014.

Rajaonarimampianina's arrival in power brought a temporary end to Madagascar's long series of political crises.
Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina resigns from office in order to contest the November presidential election, as required by the Constitution. Senate president Riko Rakotovao [fr] becomes interim President of Madagascar until the January 2019 inauguration of a new president.