Antananarivo | Wednesday
AT least two people have been killed in the Madagascan port city of Toamasina in clashes between supporters of rival politicians who both claim they are president, a Western source said on Wednesday.
The source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deaths occurred on Tuesday.
Opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana, has declared himself president of the Indian Ocean island last month after claiming victory in December’s elections.
The row over the controversial presidential ballot has sparked one of the worst political crises in former French colony’s history.
A third person was seriously injured in the clashes, the source said.
A curfew has been declared in Toamasina, the country’s main port and a Ratsiraka stronghold, where at least a further four people were injured in political violence earlier on Tuesday.
Regional governors loyal to Ratsiraka made Toamasina their provisional capital last week and blocked supplies of fuel to the capital Antananarivo, where Ravalomanana has installed his ”ministers” in government offices.
On Tuesday morning about 100 of Ravalomanana’s supporters staged a demonstration in the centre of Toamasina to protest at the blockade and were set upon by Ratsiraka’s followers wielding stones and clubs, witnesses said.
Ratsiraka’s followers then started roaming the streets attacking suspected Ravalomanana supporters, notably people known to be from Antananarivo, the source explained.
Inhabitants of Toamasina who hail from other parts of the country, mainly the south east, reacted by seeking out Ratsiraka followers and setting up barricades.
The witchhunts left at least two people dead and a third seriously injured.
The account was confirmed by several local residents, reached by telephone by AFP from Antananarivo, who said the authorities had announced over local radio that a curfew was being introduced. The port city was calm on Wednesday morning, with many people staying at home for fear of further unrest.
A member of Ravalomanana’s support committee (KMMR) in Antananarivo said three people had died in the violence, while a senior official in the Toamasina governor’s office said only one person had been killed ”in a small clash between youths”.
Airport sources said on Tuesday the airports of Toamasina and another northeastern city, Sambava, had been ordered to close until further notice.
The dispute over the December election, which the country’s constitutional court said would have to go to a second round run-off, led to daily mass demonstrations by Ravalomanana’s supporters and a six-week general strike that is still ongoing.
But despite the political crisis, few serious incidences of violence were reported before Tuesday.
The unrest coincided with a plea by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) for Madagascar’s bitter political foes to form a unity government and resolve their dispute over the presidency through a new ballot. – Sapa-AFP