AU calls for unity government in Madagascar

ADDIS ABABA – The African Union yesterday called on Madagascar’s political rivals to urgently implement a power-sharing deal reached last week aimed at ending the country’s protracted political crisis.

Madagascar’s current leader Andry Rajoelina, the president he ousted Marc Ravalomanana and two former presidents signed a consensus deal to form a government, which mediators admitted was fragile.The accord saw Rajoelina retain his post, introduced two co-presidents, a prime minister, three vice prime ministers and 31 ministers to steer the Indian Ocean island to elections in 2010.In a statement, the AU’s Peace and Security Council urged the rivals ‘to intensify their consultations to finalise, without delay, the consensual distribution of positions of responsibility.’Rajoelina and Ravlomanana have already differed over how to interpret the agreement, a sign observers said points to the difficulty of implementing the November 6 deal reached in Addis Ababa.Weeks of sometimes violent protests led by Rajoelina culminated with the president’s ouster in March, plunging the country into an institutional and political limbo. – Nampa-AFP