History: The First Socialist President

The French won against the British and made Madagascar one of their protectorates in 1885. A protectorate is a small territory or state that is owned by a stronger state like France. In 1958 a republican group under the French control rebelled and in 1960 Madagascar became independent. The people were not happy under the strict rule of their president Philibert Tsiranana and so they decided to rebel again. Led by General Gabriel Ramanantsoa the kicked him out of office and elected Didier Ratsiraka as president on June 15, 1975. He was the first president to support socialism. He nationalized banks and he also nationalized Madagascar’s trading. He was reelected in 198 but people were suspicious of the voting methods used to make him president again. To stop more riots and rebellion he allowed the other democratic candidate Albert Zafy to share his power. Zafy was elected in 1993 but misused the government’s power during an economic crisis and Ratsiraka was elected again in 1997.