Madagascan deals fail to reach the poor - 23 Nov 08

Mark Ravalomanana, the president of Madagascar, came to power six years ago on the promise that he would cut poverty by 50 per cent by opening the country up to the free market.

But most Malagsy still live on less than $1 a day and many of the poor are getting poorer.

In the first of three reports, Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton talks to the Malagsy who say the president's business mind is costing them dearly.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Jane
• Dutton
• aljazeera
• jazeera
• madagascar
• Mark
• Ravalomanana
• poverty

[allgoo19]

Another businessman president failing the country.

The situation in this case is even worse. The president himself is a lobbyist.

[conduit99]

Western sponsored Tyranny and Globalization at Work. This is Western Progress -Built on the Backs of the World's Poor.

[georgiosb100]

who has interests there? do you think that is better now?i think that he was the best president for this country

[raoulhery]

my people are dying and i'm here helpless, i feel so guilty living in a western country, in confort

[doomndeath]

great setting for a video game... cough cough

[dentgregg]

Bush has given more aid to africa than anyone in history. He also liberated more women in the backwards arab world than anyone . Shut up haters!

[amitbarve136]

I feel Madagascar is progressing it's economy. Ok.. ruling group may having major part in it but still people will definately get advantage of it. Let's Mark get some time to settel.

[lemurbaby]

On the other hand, the reality is the "opposition" is mostly just another group of power-hungry people like him, and do they even have the know-how to run a country and manage its development? At least Ravalomanana does have the business sense and knows where to invest.

[lemurbaby]

Yes, Ravalomanana is monopolizing a lot of businesses and he's been behaving unethically in terms of persecuting those he perceives as a threat to his rule. He wasn't like that at first but power started warping him in the end.

[lemurbaby]

Madagascar has got to be one of the fastest developing countries I've ever seen. It's wonderful what this president's efforts have brought about, after 27 years under a *real* dictator who let the country rot while he and his friends robbed the national treasury.

[lemurbaby]

This is an important story but it isn't balanced. I've lived in Madagascar for 2 years total since 1999 and just came back from 10 months there a few weeks ago. Some of this is exaggerated, and did you notice how little attention they paid to the point the politician made about how development takes time?

[johntabbot]

This really is a shame.