Madagascar Political Rivals Sign Peace Deal

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, April 19, 2002

Madagascar Political Rivals Sign Peace Deal

Madagascar's rivals for power, outgoing president Didier Ratsiraka and self-declared president Marc Ravalomanana, signed a peace agreement under mediation in the Senegalese capital on Thursday.

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Madagascar's rivals for power, outgoing president Didier Ratsiraka and self-declared president Marc Ravalomanana, signed a peace agreement under mediation in the Senegalese capital on Thursday.

They agreed that if no clear winner emerged from a recount of last December's first round of presidential voting, a referendum would be held for the Madagascar people to choose between them.

"The parties agree that in the event that neither candidate achieves the majority in the first round of voting, a popular referendum on a choice between the two candidates would be organized within six months," the agreement said.

Before the referendum, an interim government would form, with aprime minister co-nominated by Ratsiraka and Ravalomanana, interior and finance ministers proposed by Ravalomanana, and the list of other cabinet members determined by them half-and-half. A council would be set up to supervise the interim government.

Madagascar's Supreme Court on Wednesday annulled the initial results of December's presidential election.

The initial results, announced in January by Madagascar's High Constitutional Court (HCC), decided that no candidate won outright.Insisting on his winning majority, Ravalomanana declared himself president in February.

The Supreme Court overruled the HCC decision, saying that Ratsiraka had changed six of HCC's nine members just weeks before the voting was held.

Ratsiraka and Ravalomanana arrived here on Tuesday at the invitation of Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade who offered to mediate in the three-month crisis that turned into violent conflicts in the past week.

The mediation was chaired by Amara Essy, Secretary-General of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and Ibrahima Fall, United Nations special envoy in West Africa.

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