31 Facts About Andry Rajoelina

Andry Nirina Rajoelina is a Malagasy politician and businessman who has been the president of Madagascar since 2019.

Andry Rajoelina was previously president of a provisional government from 2009 to 2014 following a political crisis and military-backed coup, having held the office of Mayor of Antananarivo for one year prior.

Andry Rajoelina formed political party Young Malagasies Determined and was elected Mayor of Antananarivo in 2007.

Andry Rajoelina was appointed as President of the High Transitional Authority of Madagascar by a military council, in a move characterised as a coup d'etat by the international community.

Andry Rajoelina dissolved the Senate and National Assembly, and transferred their powers to a variety of new governance structures responsible for overseeing the transition toward a new constitutional authority.

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Andry Rajoelina held the Presidency of the HTA until general elections were held in 2013, and stepped down in 2014.

Andry Rajoelina won the 2018 presidential election and was inaugurated President of Madagascar on 19 January 2019.

Andry Rajoelina's tenure has included directing the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Madagascar, during which he promoted misinformation and unproven treatments for the disease, as well as a 2021 food insecurity crisis and Cyclone Batsirai.

Andry Rajoelina was born on 30 May 1974 to a relatively wealthy family in Antsirabe.

In 1994, Andry Rajoelina met his future spouse Mialy Razakandisa, who was then completing her senior year at a high school in Antananarivo.

In 1993, at the age of 19, Andry Rajoelina established his first enterprise: a small event production company called Show Business.

In May 2007, Andry Rajoelina purchased the Ravinala television and radio stations, and renamed them Viva TV and Viva FM.

In 2007, Andry Rajoelina created and led the political association Tanora malaGasy Vonona, meaning "determined Malagasy youth", and shortly afterward announced his candidacy to run for Mayor of Antananarivo.

Andry Rajoelina promised to dedicate a politically open public space in the capital which he would call Place de la Democratie .

Andry Rajoelina was 35 years of age when sworn in, making him the youngest president in the country's history and the youngest head of government in the world at that time.

The international community maintained that Andry Rajoelina's legitimacy was conditional to free and fair elections.

The new constitution mandated the leader of the High Transitional Authority – the position held by Andry Rajoelina – be kept as interim president until an election could take place, and required presidential candidates to have lived in Madagascar for at least six months prior to the elections, effectively barring Ravalomanana and other opposition leaders living in exile from running in the next election.

On 13 May 2011, Andry Rajoelina met with Alain Juppe, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and on 7 December 2011 he was officially received by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

In May 2013, when Ravalomanana's wife announced her candidacy for the 2013 elections, Andry Rajoelina saw it as a breach of contract and reintroduced his own candidacy for the elections.

Andry Rajoelina then announced his endorsement of presidential candidate Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who won the presidential election race.

Andry Rajoelina pursued legal action against Ravalomanana's company Tiko to reclaim 35 million US dollars in back taxes.

Andry Rajoelina rejected Ravalomanana's medium term development strategy, termed the Madagascar Action Plan, and abandoned education reforms initiated by his predecessor that adopted Malagasy and English as languages of instruction, instead returning to the traditional use of French.

Andry Rajoelina occasionally organized events to distribute basic items to the population, including medicines, clothing, house maintenance materials and school supplies.

Andry Rajoelina's administration spent billions of ariary to subsidize basic needs like electricity, petrol, and food staples.

In 2010, two years after Andry Rajoelina launched the project as mayor of Antananarivo, the HAT completed the reconstruction of the Hotel de Ville of Antananarivo which had been destroyed by arson during the rotaka political protests of 1972.

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In early August 2018, Andry Rajoelina was the first to register his candidacy for the 2018 presidential elections.

Andry Rajoelina had previously introduced the Initiative for the Emergence of Madagascar that define the lines of his campaign program.

Andry Rajoelina aims to increase access to electricity, to work towards agricultural self-sufficiency, and to increase security.

Campaign started in October 2018, with Andry Rajoelina facing his historical opponents Ravalomanana and Rajaonarimampianina, the favorites in a campaign of 46 candidates.

Andry Rajoelina has blamed climate change for the food insecurity in parts of his country and has called on powerful nations to fight it.

Andry Rajoelina jointly announced a plan to combat hunger along with US ambassador to the country Michael Pelletier.