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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, February 09, 2002

Madagascar Opposition Leader Calls for Dialogue With President

Madagascan opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana called for dialogue with President DidierRatsiraka on Friday, but insisting that he won an absolute majority in the election's first round in December.


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Madagascan opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana called for dialogue with President DidierRatsiraka on Friday, but insisting that he won an absolute majority in the election's first round in December.

Ravalomanana, heading the Indian Ocean island's biggest protestmovement in a decade, called the strike to press officials to verify the results of December polls.

While Ratsiraka was reportedly preparing for a second-round run-off, as ordered by the High Constitutional Court, Ravalomanana, who is also mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, has refused to take part in such a decider until results of the first round are fully checked.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday made telephone calls to the incumbent president and his main opponent to find a "peaceful and constitutional resolution" to the disputed presidential election in Madagascar.

Meanwhile, a visiting team of French-speaking parliamentarians was Friday due to meet Madagascar's opposition leader and the president in an effort to resolve a major political crisis over allegations of vote-rigging.

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that the on-going strike was costing the economy up to 14 million U.S. dollars a day and forcing companies to shed thousands of jobs on the island, 400 kilometers off southeast Africa.

The strike has shut down customs facilities and disrupted transport, damaging manufacturing activity on an island dependent on textile exports to the United States for a significant proportion of its export earnings.





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