Awwal 01, 1432, Feb 04, 2011, SPA -- Southern Africa mediators said they were confident a new political road map offered to Madagascar's rival leaders would resolve an almost two-year leadership row on the Indian Ocean island, according to Reuters. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) delegation recommended incumbent President Andry Rajoelina, who seized power with military backing in March 2007, be recognised as interim president until elections later this year. Opposition parties said they would only endorse Rajoelina's presidency if other key posts were equally shared out. Rajoelina has not yet commented on the plan. "The SADC mediation team remains confident that the proposed road map offers a realistic framework to end the crisis in Madagascar," lead mediator Leonardo Simao told reporters late on Thursday, ending a month-long mission in the world's leading vanilla producer. The political deadlock has hammered Madagascar's economy after donors froze budgetary support worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Government spending dried up and private investment slowed sharply in the aftermath of the power grab. SADC also suggested an amnesty to cover all political upheavals between 2002 and 2009, although this would not include crimes against humanity and serious violations of human rights. The party of ousted former President Marc Ravalomanana, who remains exiled in South Africa, said they were open to a national unity government headed by Rajoelina but said a more equal distribution of power was needed for their backing. Under the proposal, the interim president would appoint the prime minister and cabinet from a list of names recommended by the parties who signed up to the deal. "We will accept Andry Rajoelina as interim president if we put in place an inclusive transitional administration built on consensus," Mamy Rakotoarivelo, acting head of the Ravalomanana negotiating team, told Reuters on Friday. "We are demanding a prime minister agreed on by all, a government and national assembly equally divided up fairly among the parties and a neutral National Independent Electoral Commission," he said. Numerous power-sharing agreements have been signed by Rajoelina, Ravalomanana and two other former presidents to end the impasse, but all have come unstuck over how to share out key jobs. "We are still prepared to be part of a unity government. But we reject this roadmap as it stands," said Emmanuel Rakotovahiny, head of former President Albert Zafy's movement.
