Manandafy Rakotonirina
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Manandafy Rakotonirina (born 30 October 1938[1]) is a Malagasy politician.
Born in Fandriana, in Fianarantsoa Province, he studied at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie. Becoming a convinced socialist, he joined the Madagasikara Otronin'ny Malagasy party, within which he called for the involvement of the proletariat of Antananarivo.[1]
Rakotonirina became the Professor of Sociology at the University of Antananarivo. After repeatedly calling for party leader Monja Jaona to endorse uprisings, he was expelled from the party in 1971.[1]
In 1972, he founded the Movement for Proletarian Power with Rakotonirainy Germain. Although they did not actively oppose the regime of Didier Ratsiraka, he nonetheless banned the party in 1976, Rakotonirina being placed under house arrest for the following year. Following this, he agreed to reform his party within the ruling National Front for the Defence of the Revolution coalition, and was subsequently entrusted with leading the Economic Commission.[1]
Rakotonirina later contested the March 1989 presidential election, receiving just under 20% of the vote and taking second place, behind Ratsiraka. He stood again in the November 1992 election, taking third place with 10.2% of the votes cast, behind Albert Zafy and Ratsiraka.[1][2] Around this time, his party moved towards liberalism,[3] and renamed itself the Militant Party for the Development of Madagascar. He continued to lead the party through declining fortunes.[citation needed] 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, and Rakotonirina became a Special Advisor to the president.[3]
Despite this, Rakotonirina stood against Ravalomanana in the December 2006 presidential election. In this he received only 0.3% of the votes,[2] after experiencing difficulties distributing ballots to polling stations. After being prevented from taking papers to stations on the day of the election, he refused to cast his own vote, and called for a re-run.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e MANANDAFY (French).
- ^ a b Elections in Madagascar, African Elections Database.
- ^ a b "Mfm de Manandafy Rakotonirina :Trente trois années de lutte…" (French)
- ^ "President takes early lead in Madagascar poll", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), December 3, 2006.
