Madagascar leader urges end to unrest amid protests over deaths

Madagascar’s president on Monday demanded an end to unrest he said was intended to divide the country after two demonstrators were killed in a confrontation between police and anti-government protesters at the weekend.

The violence has inflamed a political dispute over new electoral laws, and President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s remarks coincided with a march through the capital by thousands of anti-government demonstrators protesting against the deaths.

“As army chief, the president has not shed blood and will not shed blood,” said Rajaonarimampianina, referring to himself in the third person in remarks on a visit to port project.

“The blood has flowed enough in our country. It must stop. The violence must stop.”

His remarks appeared to signal a change of tone from Sunday, when he described the protests as “a coup” and warned “those who sow unrest and incite people to tear each other apart” that the state would respond by assuming its responsibilities.

On Saturday, police fired teargas at an opposition demonstration held in protest against new electoral laws, where one person died and more than a dozen were treated for injuries, some caused by teargas canisters.

Another individual injured in Saturday’s unrest, died on Sunday, Olivat Alson Rakoto, director of a hospital in the city, told Reuters.

On Monday, thousands of demonstrators, most of them dressed in white, assembled in front of the city hall and a public square, where the coffins of the two individuals killed at the weekend were placed on the ground, the Reuters witness said.

Supporters of opposition politician Marc Ravalomanana, a former leader of the Indian Ocean island nation, say the new electoral laws are designed to block him from running in the election. The opposition is also challenging provisions on campaign financing and access to media in the laws.

REUTERS