Former Madagascan leader, Didier Ratsiraka dies at 84

Madagascar’s longtime former leader Didier Ratsiraka, a naval officer and instigator of a socialist revolution on the Indian Ocean island, died Sunday morning aged 84, president Andry Rajoelina announced.

“The Malagasy have lost an illustrious patriot,” Rajoelina posted on Twitter.

The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.

Nicknamed “Deba”, Malagasy for ‘bad guy’ and ‘boss’, Ratsiraka was in power from 1975 until 1991 and returned for another stint from 1997 to 2002.

When he first came to power, he practised a form of Marxism and had close ties to North Korea’s Kim Il Sung, Cuba’s Fidel Castro and the Kremlin.

But economic setbacks and pressure for greater political openness amid allegations of widespread corruption brought a new liberalism, eventually forcing his resignation in 1991.

General strikes paralysed the country in the run-up to his leaving office as thousands of people gathered for months to protests his autocratic regime.

The situation turned violent when guards opened fire on a peaceful march at the presidential palace, killing more than 100 people. Ratsiraka defended the assault by the soldiers as self-defence. Punch