page_title: Andry Rajoelina
section_title: Resolution of the political conflict
hierarchical_section_title: Andry Rajoelina / President of the High Transitional Authority / Resolution of the political conflict
caption_attribution_description: English: UN headquarters, New York. President Andry Rajoelina leads a speech (September 23 2011) at the 66th general assembly and is officially welcomed by Ban Ki-Moon (September 24 2011). Français&#160;: Siège de l’ONU-New York. Le Président Andry Rajoelina prononce un discours (23 septembre 2011), dans le cadre de la 66ème AG et est officiellement accueilli par le Sg Ban Ki Moon (24 septembre 2011).
context_page_description: Andry Nirina Rajoelina is a Malagasy politician and businessman who is currently serving as the president of Madagascar. He started his career in the private sector, first organizing events on the Island, and then investing the advertising business and the media. He was the Mayor of Antananarivo from December 2007 to February 2009, and President of the High Transitional Authority of Madagascar from 21 March 2009 to 25 January 2014, up until the general elections were held in 2013.
  After stepping down as President of the HAT, he remained head of the majority party, the MAPAR. After winning the 2018 presidential election, he was inaugurated on 19 January 2019.
context_section_description: On 19 March 2009, SADC announced it did not recognize the new government. The African Union suspended Madagascar and threatened sanctions if the constitutional government had not been restored within six months. The United States, Madagascar's largest bilateral donor and provider of humanitarian aid, also refused to acknowledge the Rajoelina administration, and ordered all nonessential embassy employees to leave the Island. Madagascar was removed from the list of beneficiaries of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). In May 2009, the IMF also froze its aid to Madagascar. The UN responded to the power transfer by freezing 600 million euros in planned aid. The international community maintained that Rajoelina's legitimacy was conditional to free and fair elections.
  In August 2009, the historic Presidents of Madagascar (Rajoelina, Ravalomanana, Ratsiraka, Zafy) signed the Maputo Accords which provided guidelines for a period of consensual political transition. In 11 October 2009, Andry Rajoelina appointed Eugene Malganza as a consensus Prime minister. Further guidelines were defined during the Addis Ababa reunion to split the presidential power with 2 co-presidents. The Malagasy former presidents were authorized to return to the Island, and Rajoelina named a new Prime Minister. In November 2010, a constitutional referendum resulted in the adoption of the state's fourth constitution with 73% in favor and a voter turnout of 52.6%. One change made by the new constitution was to lower the minimum age for presidential candidates from 40 to 35, making Rajoelina eligible to eventually stand in presidential elections. The new constitution mandated the leader of the High Transitional Authority – the position held by Rajoelina – be kept as interim president until an election could take place, and required presidential candidates to have lived in Madagascar for at least six months prior to the elections, effectively barring Ravalomanana and other opposition leaders living in exile from running in the next election.
  In June 2010, the EU announced the extension of its $600-million financial aid to Madagascar. In November 2011, his talk at the UN 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly marked the first major form of international recognition of the Transition government. On 13 May 2011, Andry Rajoelina met with Alain Juppé, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on 7 December 2011 he was officially received by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
  In May 2013, when Ravalomanana's wife announced her candidacy for the 2013 elections. Rajoelina saw it as a breach of contract and reintroduced his own candidacy for the elections. This situation led to postpone the dates of the elections many times. A special electoral court ruled in August 2013 that the candidatures of Rajoelina, Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka were invalid and not be permitted to run in the 2013 election. Andry Rajoelina then announced his endorsement of presidential candidate Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who won the presidential election race. Andry Rajoelina officially stepped down on 25 January 2014.
  Rajaonarimampianina set up the MAPAR committee to organize the selection of his cabinet, a process that extended over several months. During this time, Rajoelina sought to be nominated for the position of Prime Minister of Madagascar but Rajaonarimampianina picked Roger Kolo, with the support of the majority in the parliament. On 18 April, a cabinet was announced that comprised 31 members with varied political affiliations.
caption: Andry Rajoelina and Ban Ki-Moon in 2011.
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