Manandafy Rakotonirina

Manandafy Rakotonirina (30 October 1938 – 15 March 2019 ) was a Malagasy politician. He had been a significant political figure in Madagascar since the 1970s, and in April 2009 he was appointed as prime minister by ousted president Marc Ravalomanana.

Early life

Born in Fandriana, Amoron'i Mania, he received his primary and secondary education in Ambositra and Antsirabe and attended the University of Antananarivo. He then became an assistant at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie and a Professor of Sociology. As a convinced socialist, he joined the Madagasikara Otronin'ny Malagasy party, From late 1991 to 1993, he was co-president of the transitional Committee for Economic and Social Recovery along with Richard Andriamanjato. Rakotonirina was a candidate in the November 1992 presidential election, taking third place with 10.2% of the votes cast, behind Albert Zafy and Ratsiraka.

Rakotonirina's party had moved towards liberalism, and it renamed itself the Militant Party for the Development of Madagascar. He continued to lead the party. In 2001, he played a major role in convincing Marc Ravalomanana to claim a majority in the first round of the presidential election and to refuse to participate in a second round of voting. His alternative strategy of taking to the streets proved ultimately successful; Ravalomanana took over the Presidency, and Rakotonirina became a Special Advisor to the President. after experiencing difficulties distributing ballots to polling stations. After being prevented from taking ballot papers to stations on the day of the election, he refused to cast his own vote and called for the election to be held over again.

2006 Malagasy presidential election He was candidate for the 2006 presidential elections but failed with 0.33% of the votes (14.712 votes).

2009 Malagasy political crisis

President Ravalomanana was forced out of office by popular protests led by Andry Rajoelina and military intervention in March 2009. He nevertheless insisted that he was the legitimate president, and on 16 April 2009 he announced from exile that he was appointing Rakotonirina as prime minister. Ravalomanana made this announcement by phone at a rally of his supporters in Antananarivo, with Rakotonirina in attendance. Rakotonirina subsequently began working out of the Carlton hotel in Antananarivo, and he appointed ministers to occupy the key government portfolios on 28 April; he assigned himself responsibility for national defense. Soldiers with a warrant for Rakotonirina's arrest stormed the Carlton and arrested him on 29 April; they found him hiding in a bathroom after searching for about an hour. A spokesperson for Rajoelina described Rakotonirina as "the mastermind of last week's violence".