Ravalomanana is credited with improving the country's infrastructure, such as roads, along with making improvements in education and health, but has faced criticism for his lack of progress against poverty ; purchasing power is said to have declined during his time in office.

President Ravalomanana rose to prominence through his agro-foods TIKO company, and is known for attempting to apply many of the lessons learned in the world of business to running the government.

After Ravalomanana was sworn in for a second time in early May, Sylla was reappointed as Prime Minister on May 9.

He ostensibly did so in the spirit of the Maputo agreement between Malagasy political leaders, which called for the creation of a national unity government, but the opposition denounced Rajoelina's appointments, and Sylla was considered to have completely broken with Ravalomanana.

Zafy strongly criticized Ravalomanana and called for a new constitution.

On August 4, 2009, as part of negotiations for a solution to the political crisis, Zafy met with Rajoelina, Ravalomanana, and Ratsiraka, along with former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, who acted as mediator at the four day long mediation crisis talks held in Maputo.

Ravalomanana was sworn in as President by his supporters on February 22, 2002, and the two governments fought for control of the country.

In the later half of his second term, Ravalomanana was criticised by domestic and international observers who accused him of increasing authoritarianism and corruption.

In the election, he took second place ; according to the government, Marc Ravalomanana won first place with 46 % while Ratsiraka took 40 %.

Ravalomanana dissolved the National Assembly in July 2007, prior to the end of its term, following a constitutional referendum earlier in the year.

Sylla resigned as Prime Minister on 19 January 2007, at the end of Ravalomanana's first term ; his resignation was accepted by Ravalomanana, who appointed Charles Rabemananjara as Prime Minister on 20 January.

However, in a popular uprising in 2009 the last elected president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign and presidential power was transferred in March 2009 to Andry Rajoelina in a move widely viewed by the international community as a coup d ' état.

The contested 2001 presidential elections in which then-mayor of Antananarivo, Marc Ravalomanana, eventually emerged victorious, caused a seven-month standoff in 2002 between supporters of Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka.

The last presidential election was held on 3 December 2006 and resulted in the re-election of Marc Ravalomanana, from whom executive power was unconstitutionally transferred to Andry Rajoelina in March 2009.

The military remained largely neutral during the protracted standoff between incumbent Ratsiraka and challenger Marc Ravalomanana in the disputed 2001 presidential elections.

Sylla backed Ravalomanana in the crisis that followed the December 2001 presidential election and argued Ravalomanana's case before the High Constitutional Court.

Ravalomanana was re-elected with 55. 79 % in the December 2006 presidential election.

With the presidential elections of 2001, in which opposition candidate Ravalomanana claimed that the official figures were fraudulent, the five AREMA provincial governors came out in support of Ratsiraka and even declared themselves independent from the republic.

He was the Minister of Defense in the government of Madagascar under President Didier Ratsiraka until he resigned on March 8, 2002, and pledged his support to Marc Ravalomanana, the opposition presidential candidate who claimed to have won the December 2001 presidential election.

Ravalomanana said that a new election needed to be held so that the National Assembly would reflect the changes made in this referendum.

Opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana prevailed in an extended dispute with Ratsiraka over the election results, and Ratsiraka fled into exile.

On August 4, 2009, Ratsiraka met with President of the High Authority of Transition of Madagascar Andry Rajoelina, as well as Ravalomanana ( who had himself been ousted and forced into exile ) and Zafy, in crisis talks mediated by former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano and held in Maputo.

During the 2009 Malagasy political crisis, Sylla participated in negotiations between President Ravalomanana and opposition leader Andry Rajoelina on February 24, 2009.

Subsequently, at an opposition rally on March 14, 2009, Sylla announced that he was joining the opposition and said that Ravalomanana should resign ; according to Sylla, that was the only solution and " as President of the National Assembly, I have to recognise reality.

Tiako I Madagasikara ( I Love Madagascar, TIM ) is a political party in Madagascar founded by a group of individuals on July 3, 2002 to support President Marc Ravalomanana.

Didier Ratsiraka returned from exile on November 24, 2011, a move that was welcomed by the Rajoelina regime as well as by former presidents ( and former opponents ) Ravalomanana and Zafy.

The opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana claimed victory after the first round ( in December ) but the incumbent rejected this position.

Under Ravalomanana, military expenditure doubled from 54 million USD in 2006 to 103 million USD in 2008.

* 2009 – Rioting breaks out in Antananarivo, Madagascar, sparking a political crisis that will result in the replacement of President Marc Ravalomanana with Andry Rajoelina.

Under Ravalomanana these investments produced substantial economic growth but the benefits were not evenly spread throughout the population, producing tensions over the increasing cost of living and declining living standards among the poor and some segments of the middle class.

Although banned by then-President Marc Ravalomanana from 2000 to 2009, the collection of small quantities of precious timber from national parks was re-authorized in January 2009 and has dramatically intensified under the administration of current head of state Andry Rajoelina as a key source of state revenues to offset cuts in donor support following Ravalomanana's ouster.

In 2003 Ravalomanana announced the Durban Vision, an initiative to more than triple the island's protected natural areas to over or 10 percent of Madagascar's land surface.

Opposition leader and then-mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, led a movement in early 2009 in which Ravalomanana was pushed from power in an unconstitutional process widely condemned as a coup d ' état.

The Ravalomanana government is especially positive about ties with the United States.

Under the new constitution, the Malagasy public elected President Albert Zafy, President Didier Ratsiraka, and most recently President Marc Ravalomanana.

Ravalomanana claimed that fraud had occurred in the polls.

After an April recount the High Constitutional Court declared Ravalomanana president.

In January 2009 protests which then turned violent were organized and spearheaded by Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo and a prominent opponent of President Ravalomanana.

Ravalomanana was not in the palace at the time.

Marc Ravalomanana contested the results and claimed victory.

A political crisis followed in which Ratsiraka supporters cut major transport routes from the primary port city to the capital city, a stronghold of Ravalomanana support.

Ratsiraka is from the coastal Betsimisaraka tribe and Ravalomanana comes from the highland Merina tribe.

After the end of the 2002 political crisis, President Ravalomanana began many reform projects, forcefully advocating " rapid and durable development " and the launching of a battle against corruption.