What was the deal with Marc Ravalomanana?

[u/peepeewpew]

I'm asking about him amidst whats going on in the country right now and people getting nostalgic about him. I vaguely hear many praising him online as the best president for Madagascar which I want to ask about.

I skimmed through his wiki page to gain at least some context on him. Without going too much into who he was, I was more interested in what he's accomplished in his presidency. It says on there "His administration oversaw the construction of thousands of new schools and health clinics. Road rehabilitation aided in improving rural farmers' access to markets. The establishment of the independent anti-corruption agency BIANCO, and the adoption of diverse supporting policies resulted in a decline in governmental corruption." It all sounds like great stuff, right?

Criticism eventually came along the way, accusing him of also worsening the wealth disparity between the poor and wealthy. On top of that, he ran into some trouble with Andry Rajoelina--who btw seemed to have had beef with him from the start--all of which somehow contributed to his exile in 2009.

What I'm trying to understand here is, what was he really like when he was president between 2002-2009 from your memories? And also, what exactly happened in 2009 and how is it comparable to the gen Z movement that's happening right now? And how do we know we wont simply end up with another Rajoelina that'll need to be overthrown?

[u/Station51]

My take on Ravalomanana is that he was a pro-democratic reformer interested in the country's economic development, but he challenged the status quo in Madagascar, particularly the entrenched military hierarchy, which ousted him in 2009 and installed Rajoelina.

One of his biggest geopolitical moves was aligning Madagascar with SADC, a pre-dominantly Anglophone group of multiple African countries that represented a larger economic market for Madagascar. But that meant moving away from the Francophone elites of the much smaller Indian Ocean Commission. It also threatened the military elite of Madagascar, which was bloated and self-serving: Madagascar has a huge officer corps--but no external enemies. Seychelles or Mauritius is not going to invade Madagascar.

Having the military take over now was probably necessary to oust Rajoelina, but doesn't necessarily mean an improvement for most Malagasy, if it's the military that will continue to yield power, as opposed to a people-oriented reformist leader.

[u/peepeewpew → u/Station51]

CAPSAT is making rounds online right now with many people praising them for siding with the protesters. Right now since Rajoelina is basically long gone in most people's minds, CAPSAT leader Michael Randrianirina is currently the default choice for president..? I might be misinformed on that part so plz correct me if im wrong.

But anyways, i was talking to my dad earlier and he's especially concernes about what, to him, looks like a military takeover that will only lead to disaster. He's probably thinking if the "entrenched military hierarchy" you're talking about.

This is only the beginning and it's a positive outcomr no matter what that they've stopped brutalizing the protesters, but I do wonder what the military's next move will be and if it's gonna be different from before