ANTANANARIVO (REUTERS) - One person was killed on Saturday (April 21) when Madagascar police fired tear gas at opposition demonstrators protesting against new electoral laws they say are designed to lock out their candidate from a presidential election due this year. Authorities had earlier in the week declared the protest illegal but opposition activists defied the order and forged ahead with the demonstration, which saw thousands throng a public square outside city hall in the capital of Antananarivo. “I call on all the people of Madagascar to be calm, respect democracy, but what happened on Saturday is nothing but a coup,” President Hery Rajaonarimampianina said in a television address, referring to clashes between security forces and police and opposition protesters. The opposition has accused the government of President Hery Rajaonarimampianina of wanting to muzzle it through new electoral laws in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections due to be held in late November or December. Elected in 2013, Rajaonarimampianina has not yet announced whether he will stand for re-election. "The demonstration will continue again on Monday to fight against corruption, we will continue it until the dismissal of president Hery Rajaonarimampianina," Razafimanantsoa said asking former president Marc Ravalomanana, former transition president Andry Rajoelina, the church council, all opposition parties in the country, the students and public servants to join on Monday. Both were barred from running in 2013 and their parties have been involved in the protests. The Indian Ocean island nation endured several years of turmoil after Ravalomanana was ousted as president in the 2009 coup that led to the withdrawal of foreign investment and donor money. Ravalomanana was overthrown in 2009 after an army mutiny that allowed Rajoelina -- then Antananarivo mayor -- to become the country's unelected transition president until 2014. Rajaonarimampianina’s arrival in power brought a temporary end to Madagascar’s long series of political crises.
Opposition demonstrations in Antananarivo, Madagascar, turn violent. Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly Solonandrasana says one died and seventeen were injured but opposition Parliamentarian Hanitra Razafimanantsoa, who supports ex-President Marc Ravalomanana, says two were shot dead and two babies at a nearby hospital killed by tear gas.