A spokesman for Madagascar President Marc Ravalomanana, who has fled the capital, told Reuters on Monday that the president refused to resign and was ready to die along with his guards. Meanwhile, soldiers stormed the presidential palace.
Soldiers seized a presidential palace in Madagascar’s capital of Antananarivo. FRANCE 24's correspondent Cyril Vanier reported that President Marc Ravalomanana was not in the building during the assault.
After an emergency session to discuss developments in Madagascar, the African Union condemned the opposition’s move to oust Madagascar’s President Marc Ravalomanana. The opposition had called for the arrest of the embattled president.
Opposition leader Andry Rajoelina has publicly urged Madagascar's army to arrest rival President Marc Ravalomanana, shortly after rejecting the embattled president's offer to settle the political stand-off by referendum.
A day after opposition chief Andry Rajoelina called on him to “humbly resign,” Madagascar’s President Marc Ravalomanana said he would not quit and was ready to face a “referendum if necessary”.
Madagascar's opposition leader Andry Rajoelina says he is in command of the country's army, after his movement claimed to have toppled the government earlier in the day. He said President Marc Ravalomanana was a spent force.
Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana (photo) has refused to step down after the expiry of a four-hour deadline proclaimed by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina, who appeared earlier today before a crowd of supporters in the island's capital.
In his first public appearance since he went into hiding, Madagascar's opposition leader Andry Rajoelina called on President Marc Ravalomanana to resign within four hours. FRANCE 24’s Cyril Vanier reports from Antananarivo.
The political situation in Madagascar was at a knife-edge Saturday, with the opposition claiming it has ousted President Marc Ravalomanana from power, says FRANCE 24’s Cyril Vanier reporting from Antananarivo.
Madagascar's opposition claims it is close to toppling President Marc Ravalomanana; who in turn called on the poverty-stricken population to protect the presidential palace. But only a few hundred have rallied to the weakened president's call.
