The area around the Magro Behoririka, located near the city center in Antananarivo, was cordoned off by elements of the security forces very early in the morning of Saturday, July 23. The place was normally supposed to host the rally of the RMDM (Rodoben’ny Mpanohitra ho an’ny Demokrasia eto Madagasikara) or Opposition Rally for Democracy.<\/p>\n
Several hundred elements of the forces of law and order positioned themselves in front of the train station in Soarano, and in front of the May 3rd stele in Analakely, as well as along the avenues of Independence. In addition to the military and gendarmes armed with truncheons, armored tanks and several other trucks filled with men in fatigues and armed with tear gas lances are on the scene. According to indiscretions, they are preparing to maintain public order, in the context of an attempted political demonstration by opposition parties.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the initiators of the movement had maintained during a press conference that the meeting had obtained authorization from the prefecture and would indeed take place. This morning, however, the Prefect of Antananarivo, General Ravelonarivo Angelo, declared that the authorization that was issued to them was in no way intended for today’s demonstration.<\/p>\n
During the scuffles between the demonstrators and the police, two leaders of the main opposition party “Tiako i Madagasikara” (TIM) were arrested. They are Randrimamasiniro Ny Riana (Secretary General) and Rakotonirina Jean Claude (Coordinator). According to the latest news, the two men were taken to the criminal brigade in Fiadanana for hearing.<\/p>\n
For their part, the demonstrators, including members of parliament elected under the colors of the TIM, did not want to leave the scene while demanding the release of their fellow fighters. “This situation is not fair. We are waiting for the outcome of the negotiations with the Prefect and we demand that our friends be released before leaving the premises,” TIM deputy Fetra Ralambozafimbololona told journalists.<\/p>\n
The two leaders had still not been released by 15:00 GMT on Saturday. For their part, supporters of the regime are taking turns on social networks to call on members of the opposition to stop the “destabilization maneuvers and wait for the next presidential election in 2023. Last Thursday, former President Marc Ravalomanana made a statement in the media calling for a national consultation before the elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The area around the Magro Behoririka, located near the city center in Antananarivo, was cordoned off by elements of the security forces very early in the morning of Saturday, July 23. The place was normally supposed to host the rally of the RMDM (Rodoben’ny Mpanohitra ho an’ny Demokrasia eto Madagasikara) or Opposition Rally for Democracy. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[8880,813,320,8879,8878,180],"class_list":{"0":"post-21186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indian-ocean-region","8":"tag-antananarivo","9":"tag-fuel-prices","10":"tag-madagascar","11":"tag-magro-behoririka","12":"tag-rmdm","13":"tag-trending"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n