Madagascar opposition protesters hurt in clashes with police

ANTANANARIVO: Several opposition protesters were wounded on Saturday when clashes broke out between Madagascar´s police and military, and thousands of activists against new election laws ahead of a vote later this year. Five people were hurt in the confrontation in the capital Antananarivo, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Authorities had on Tuesday declared the protest illegal but opposition activists defied the order and forged ahead with the demonstration which saw thousands throng outside the city hall in Antananarivo. Security forces fired teargas to disperse the crowd and some reacted by hurling rocks at the officers. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a doctor at a local hospital said medics had treated 11 people who were injured in the clashes. “I´m told there are dead people and I can vouch that I personally saw one dead person,” an opposition MAPAR lawmaker Hawel Mamod Ali told reporters. There was no immediate information from authorities. The opposition has accused the government of President Hery Rajaonarimampianina of wanting to muzzle it ahead of presidential and legislative elections to be held in late November or December. Opposition MPs charge that three newly adopted laws favour the ruling party. Elected in 2013, Rajaonarimampianina has not yet announced whether he will stand for re-election. Meanwhile two former heads of state have already mooted runs: Marc Ravalomanana, who was president from 2002 to 2009, and Andry Rajoelina, who succeeded him. Both were barred from running in 2013. Ravalomanana was overthrown in 2009 after an army mutiny that allowed Rajoelina — then Antananarivo mayor — to become the country´s unelected transition president until 2014. Rajaonarimampianina´s arrival in power brought an end to a long series of political crises in Madagascar.