MADAGASCAR: A Madagascan court has named the opposition challenger, Mr Marc Ravalomanana, as the winner of a disputed presidential election in the island state, but President Didier Ratsiraka's pledge to ignore Monday's verdict has raised fears of more violence.
Following a four-month leadership crisis sparked by allegations of rigging in the December elections, the High Constitutional Court said a recount showed Mr Ravalomanana had won an outright majority and was officially president.
Mr Ratsiraka, who agreed to the recount earlier this month, said on Sunday that the court was biased and he would disregard the ruling, prompting warnings from analysts that the crisis on the Indian Ocean island could lead to further bloodshed.
"If Ratsiraka does not back down from his current position, if he continues to refuse these results, I think there's going to be a huge increase in violence," said Mr Christopher Eads at the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit.
Up to 60 people have been killed in violence between the two camps since the polls. Mr Ravalomanana, the popular mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, says Mr Ratsiraka used foul play during the vote count to try and prolong his 23-year rule.
Mr Ravalomanana, a self-made millionaire, initially tried to secure a recount by organising strikes and mass protests.
When that failed, he declared himself president, saying it was the will of the people. He has not so far been recognised by the international community.
Mr Ravalomanana's supporters, told by the court to "neither proclaim the victor nor taunt the loser" congregated on the central May 13 square in Antananarivo for a Christian religious service to be held in celebration of the result.
"There's so much joy here," Mr Ravalomanana's adviser, Elie Rajaonarison, said. "There will be a mass and after that I'm sure there will be a big party. At the same time this result signifies work. Now it is time to start getting the country in order."
Monday's court ruling dismissed official results announced in January that showed neither man had won an outright majority.
The initial results gave Mr Ravalomanana 46.21 per cent to Mr Ratsiraka's 40.89 per cent.
"Marc Ravalomanana is elected to the presidency of the Republic for the next five years by 51.46 per cent of the votes in the presidential election of December 16th," the interim president of the court, Judge Mananjara, told diplomats, politicians and church leaders in the capital.
Mr Ratsiraka received 35.90 per cent of the vote, the court said.
Mr Ravalomanana, who started his career selling yogurts in one of the world's poorest countries, has a firm hold on the inland province of Antananarivo, where the capital is situated.
But there has been resistance to his rule from Ratsiraka loyalists in the provinces.
Five of Madagascar's six provincial governors remain loyal to the veteran Mr Ratsiraka and have threatened to set up independent states if Mr Ravalomanana was declared president.
As well as going back on his promise to respect a recount, Mr Ratsiraka has also failed to follow through on an agreement made in Dakar to remove road blocks put up by his supporters to isolate the capital, and which have severely damaged the economy.