| Didier Ratsiraka |
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Ratsiraka ran in the multiparty , and Prime Minister/Acting President Norbert Ratsirahonana . He narrowly defeated Zafy in the runoff with 50.7% of the vote and took office again on February 9 , 1997 ."Ratsiraka sworn in as Madagascar's new president", Television Malagasy (Antanarivo), February 9, 1997. Members of the opposition, including Zafy, unsuccessfully attempted to impeach Ratsiraka in February 1998, accusing him of violating the constitution through decentralizing reforms that would increase his own power at the expense of that of the National Assembly. The impeachment motion also accused him of perjury, nepotism, and failing to act as supreme arbiter of disputes, and it cited his ill-health. In the National Assembly vote on February 4 , 60 deputies voted for the impeachment motion, well short of the required 92."Feb 1998 - Refusal of National Assembly to impeach President", Keesing's Record of World Events, Volume 44, February, 1998 Madagascar, Page 42051. On , Ratsiraka fled Toamasina, taking a flight to the nearby Seychelles . "Madagascar's former leader quits" , BBC News, July 5, 2002. Two days later he arrived in France. "Ratsiraka moots Madagascar return" , BBC News, July 8, 2002. On August 6 2003 , Ratsiraka, who was accused of stealing about eight million dollars in public funds from the annex of the central bank in Toamasina in June 2002, shortly before going into exile, was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in Madagascar, where he was tried ''in absentia''. "L'ex-président Ratsiraka condamné par contumace" , UPF (presse-francophone.org), August 7, 2003 . "MADAGASCAR: France says no extradition request received for Ratsiraka" , IRIN, August 7, 2003. "Madagascar: 10 Years' Hard Labor For Ex-President" , ''The New York Times'', August 7, 2003. The lawyer appointed for Ratsiraka by the court accepted the verdict and sentence as "fair" and said he would not appeal. Didier Ratsiraka's nephew, Roland Ratsiraka , is also a politician. He became the mayor of Toamasina and ran unsuccessfully in the 2006 Presidential Election , coming in third place. REFERENCES |
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