In just five months the relatively calm Indian Ocean island of Madgascar has been riven by a political row that has seen almost 60 people killed since January and more than 65,000 jobs lost. The World Bank on Tuesday said the economic fallout from the protracted crisis could spell disaster for the poorest of the poor in the country. The leadership wrangle began in January when Marc Ravalomanana, the charismatic mayor of the capital, organised mass protests accusing incumbent president Didier...read more
In just five months the relatively calm Indian Ocean island of Madgascar has been riven by a political row that has seen almost 60 people killed since January and more than 65,000 jobs lost. The World Bank on Tuesday said the economic fallout from the protracted crisis could spell disaster for the poorest of the poor in the country. The leadership wrangle began in January when Marc Ravalomanana, the charismatic mayor of the capital, organised mass protests accusing incumbent president Didier Ratsiraka of rigging the December polls in an effort to prolong his 23-year rule. The crisis recently turned uglier with incidents of clashes between two of the country's largest ethnic groups. IRIN asked Madagascar specialist Stephen Ellis at the African Studies Institute in Leiden, Netherlands, how a country known more for its vanilla exports and sandy beaches became one of Africa's hotspots.