Madagascar's main opposition leader has called a stay-at-home strike today (Tuesday), following weeks of demonstrations against of the results of December's presidential election.

Marc Ravalomanana urged his followers to stay away from work and in their homes in order to turn Madagascar's capital, Antananarivo, into a "ghost city".

On Monday, hundreds of thousands of his supporters marched in Antananarivo, waving banners and demanding that President Didier Ratsiraka step down. Witnesses say most shops, banks and transportation facilities were closed.

This is the second week Mr. Ravalomanana's supporters have protested the December 16th presidential election results. According to the country's election commission, Mr. Ravalomanana received 46 percent of the vote in the election, short of the 50 percent needed to be declared the winner. The commission says President Ratsiraka received 41 percent.

A second round of voting is scheduled for February 24th.

Mr. Ravalomanana claims he won the presidential vote outright and has told his supporters to boycott the second round.

Mr. Ravalomanana says he will call off the strike if the electoral commission will agree to allow a team of international observers to audit the December vote.

The strike stranded more than one-thousand foreign tourists in Madagascar last week, after the international airport was shut down. The airport re-opened briefly Saturday, allowing many trapped vacationers to leave.

(ap, afp, reuters, prev)

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version