(AFP)
NTANANARIVO — Madagascar's strongman Andry Rajoelina inked a deal Friday with 99 parties to break a political deadlock since he seized power in a coup last year, an AFP correspondent reported.The accord calls on its signatories to "work together and pool their efforts in the search for a solution to end the crisis."
The Indian Ocean island has been mired in political crisis since Rajoelina's power grab in May 2009. International efforts to put an end to the turmoil have so far been fruitless.
The accord calls for a constitutional referendum to be held on November 17, parliamentary elections in March next year and a first round of presidential polls on May 4, 2011.
Rajoelina is to remain in his post until a new president is elected while a prime minister will be appointed in a manner agreed upon by the signatories of Friday's accord.
Representatives of three former presidents, including Marc Ravalomanana, whom Rajoelina ousted with the army's backing, signed the latest agreement.
Last month, chief mediator and former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano held talks with various Madagascan officials in Antananarivo, but no accord was reached.
Chissano has led a series of talks between Rajoelina and his key political rivals and arrived at a power-sharing arrangement last year, but the terms were subsequently spurned by Rajoelina.
The African Union then imposed travel bans and economic sanctions on Rajoelina and 108 of his backers for failing to honour the agreement with his rivals to form a unity government.
The pan-African body and the Southern African Development Community suspended Madagascar until a return of constitutional order.
Since taking power, Rajoelina has failed to secure international backing and left the country in a state of institutional limbo.
The European Union in June suspended development aid to Madagascar, citing the coup d'etat government as an impediment.
The 36-year-old Rajoelina, a former disc jockey and mayor of Antananarivo, has repeatedly produced timetables for elections and constitutional referenda, but none has been carried out.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hH9l7B-L4m5shYmt6mVElse0gQ9Q
NTANANARIVO — Madagascar's strongman Andry Rajoelina inked a deal Friday with 99 parties to break a political deadlock since he seized power in a coup last year, an AFP correspondent reported.The accord calls on its signatories to "work together and pool their efforts in the search for a solution to end the crisis."
The Indian Ocean island has been mired in political crisis since Rajoelina's power grab in May 2009. International efforts to put an end to the turmoil have so far been fruitless.
The accord calls for a constitutional referendum to be held on November 17, parliamentary elections in March next year and a first round of presidential polls on May 4, 2011.
Rajoelina is to remain in his post until a new president is elected while a prime minister will be appointed in a manner agreed upon by the signatories of Friday's accord.
Representatives of three former presidents, including Marc Ravalomanana, whom Rajoelina ousted with the army's backing, signed the latest agreement.
Last month, chief mediator and former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano held talks with various Madagascan officials in Antananarivo, but no accord was reached.
Chissano has led a series of talks between Rajoelina and his key political rivals and arrived at a power-sharing arrangement last year, but the terms were subsequently spurned by Rajoelina.
The African Union then imposed travel bans and economic sanctions on Rajoelina and 108 of his backers for failing to honour the agreement with his rivals to form a unity government.
The pan-African body and the Southern African Development Community suspended Madagascar until a return of constitutional order.
Since taking power, Rajoelina has failed to secure international backing and left the country in a state of institutional limbo.
The European Union in June suspended development aid to Madagascar, citing the coup d'etat government as an impediment.
The 36-year-old Rajoelina, a former disc jockey and mayor of Antananarivo, has repeatedly produced timetables for elections and constitutional referenda, but none has been carried out.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hH9l7B-L4m5shYmt6mVElse0gQ9Q