Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana (born 18 November 1938) is a Malagasy politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Madagascar and acting

president of Madagascar This is a list of presidents of Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Af ...

from 1996 to 1997.

Life and career

He was born in

Antsiranana Antsiranana ( ), named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region. It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013. History At the beginning of the 16th century, a Portugue ...

Diana Region Diana is a region in Madagascar at the northern part of the island. It borders the regions of Sava to the southeast and Sofia to the southwest. It covers an area of 19,266 km2, and had a population of 889,736 in 2018. The regional capital is ...

He founded and led the '' Asa Vita no Ifampitsarana'' (Judged By Your Work) Party, which opposed President

Didier Ratsiraka Didier Ignace Ratsiraka (; 4 November 1936 – 28 March 2021) was a Malagasy politician and naval officer who was the third president of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and the fifth from 1997 to 2002. At the time of his death, he was the longest ...

. He and his party were part of the coalition which elected

Albert Zafy Albert Zafy (1 May 1927 – 13 October 2017) was a Malagasy politician and educator who served as the fourth president of Madagascar from 1993 to 1996. In 1988, he founded the National Union for Democracy and Development (UNDD). In 1992, Zafy s ...

to the presidency in 1993. Ratsirahonana then became President of the High Constitutional Court. On 28 May 1996, when the prime minister was deposed by Parliament in a no confidence vote, Zafy appointed Ratsirahonana to the post. Soon afterward, Zafy was impeached and, on 5 September 1996, Ratsirahonana became acting

President of Madagascar This is a list of presidents of Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Af ...

. A

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

was held on 3 November 1996, in which Ratsirahonana ran, taking fourth place (behind Ratsiraka, Zafy and

Herizo Razafimahaleo Herizo Jossicher Razafimahaleo (February 21, 1955Curriculum Vitae
at Herizo.org . – July 25, 2008

) and 10.14% of the vote.Elections in Madagascar
African Elections Database. Ratsirahonana backed Zafy in the second round, which was held on 29 December, but Ratsiraka narrowly prevailed; Ratsirahonana left office as President when Ratsiraka was sworn in, on 9 February 1997. Twelve days later, he also lost his position as Prime Minister when Ratsiraka appointed one of his own allies. The AVI then became the main opposition party, though it became very weak, winning only 13 of the 150 seats in the 1998 parliamentary election. Ratsirahonana became Chairman of the National Executive Committee of the Panorama Group opposition coalition in September 1997. Ratsirahonana withdrew from the December 2001 presidential election and endorsed the candidacy of

Marc Ravalomanana Marc Ravalomanana (; born 12 December 1949) is a Malagasy politician who served as the sixth List of presidents of Madagascar, president of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. Born into a farming Merina people, Merina family in Imerinkasinina, near th ...

.Richard Cornwell, , ISS Paper 68, April 2003. He was appointed as the president's "roaming ambassador" under the Ravalomanana administration. In 2006, however, Ratsirahonana resigned from his office; in August 2006 he announced his candidacy for the December 2006 presidential election. According to official results, he received 4.22% of the vote and took fifth place. His best result was in

Antananarivo Province Antananarivo Province is a former province of Madagascar with an area of . It had a population of 5,370,900 in 2004. Its capital was Antananarivo, which is also the capital of the country. Established in 1965, it was the most important province of ...

, where he received 7.14% of the vote. Amidst the 2009 political crisis, when the military announced that it was installing opposition leader

Andry Rajoelina Andry Nirina Rajoelina (, ; born 30 May 1974) is a Malagasy-French politician and businessman who has served as president of Madagascar since 2019. He was previously president of a provisional government from 2009 to 2014 following a politica ...

as head of state on 17 March 2009, Ratsirahonana was present as master of ceremonies. Rajoelina then set up the High Authority of the Transition (HAT) as the ruling body, and Ratsirahonana was appointed as one of the HAT's 44 members on 31 March 2009.Andry Ratovo
"Un Tim et un Grad Iloafo dans la liste"
''L'Express de Madagascar'', April 1, 2009 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratsirahonana, Norbert 1938 births Living people People from Antsiranana Merina people Judged by Your Work Party politicians Christian Peace Conference members Prime ministers of Madagascar