Jean Lahiniriko
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jean Lahiniriko (born April 1, 1956) is a Malagasy politician.[1]
Lahiniriko was born in Tongobory in the south of Madagascar and studied at the Lycée de génie civil d'Ampefoloha à Antananarivo. In the late 1970s, he moved to undertake further studies in civil engineering in Cuba. After working on various civil engineering projects, in 1985, he became the director of Zanatany, then from 1989 until 2003 he held various prominent civil service posts.[1]
In 2002, he became the Minister for Labour in Jacques Sylla's government, and later that year he was elected to the National Assembly of Madagascar under the banner of the Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM) party. In January 2003, he was elected as Speaker of the National Assembly.[1]
In April 2006, Lahiniriko visited Iran and while there commented positively on Iran's nuclear programme. At home, his comments led to accusations of treason from members of parliament; Lahiniriko said the comments had only represented his personal views and were not intended as a statement of official policy. On May 8, parliament voted Lahiniriko out of his position as Speaker, with 119 out of 160 legislators in favor of his removal.[2] He was also expelled from TIM a week before he was voted out of his position. Two days after being removed from office, he announced that he would run for president in the December 2006 presidential election.[3] According to provisional results, he placed second, with 11.68% of the vote, behind incumbent Marc Ravalomanana, who received a majority in the first round.[4] Lahiniriko did, however, win about 46% of the vote in Toliara Province, ten points more than Ravalomanana.[5]
Lahiniriko's campaign director called the results false and said that Ravalomanana had only won about 49%.[6] Lahiniriko claimed that there were problems with the electoral list and said that he did not accept the official results. He and third place candidate Roland Ratsiraka said that they were challenging the results in court and that they wanted the election to be held over again.[7]
Lahiniriko opposes the constitutional changes proposed in the 2007 constitutional referendum and is participating in a national committee that is campaigning for a "no" vote as a coordinator of action.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Biographie de M. Jean LAHINIRIKO (French)
- ^ "Madagascar speaker ousted over Iran support", Reuters, May 10, 2006.
- ^ "Speaker eyes presidency as Iran row deepens", AFP (IOL), May 11, 2006.
- ^ "Ravalomanana likely to win presidential election", IRIN, December 11, 2006.
- ^ Results for Toliara, Interior Ministry of Madagascar site.
- ^ "Madagascar re-elects president", Reuters (News.com.au), December 11, 2006.
- ^ Jonny Hogg, "Opposition to Challenge Madagascar Vote", Associated Press (sfgate.com), December 11, 2006.
- ^ "Début de la campagne pour le référendum constitutionnel", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), March 20, 2007 (French).
