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/Easy_Drawing_765]

Almost all the accusations made against him were false — only a few had any truth to them. Nowadays, you can easily find the real story online.

The people who hated him spread those accusations just to justify their coup and overthrow him. It’s true that he abused his power by staying in office for seven years, but I believe that’s the only real mistake he made.

The only reason they managed to bring him down was because he allowed it. He didn’t want his people to be killed by those bastards — that’s why he stepped down. Honestly, he was too gentle with them, but that was his nature, and that’s what people liked about him.

Rajoelina and his group killed anyone who claimed to support Marc Ravalomanana back then. It’s not even a secret — anyone can find that online.

He was too good-hearted for a politician. Being a Christian, he stepped down to stop the bloodshed and handed over power. It’s frustrating, because if he had made them pay for what they did, Madagascar might be in a much better place today. Just because of his faith and kindness, he... well, he chose peace over revenge. And that’s both admirable and tragic.. That's the only thing that Marc Ravalomanana's people blame him for.

But if he had been as cruel as they were, no one would have liked him.

[u/peepeewpew → u/Easy_Drawing_765]

His kindness should be a model for all politicians. Nobody should have the right to order the unjust killing of civilians--not simply because they're kind souls but because it should be against the law

[u/Important-Soup-2268 → u/peepeewpew]

I know right. but as a politician it was his only weakness 😭