Madagascar's opposition leader Andry Rajoelina emerged from hiding on Saturday to tell thousands of his supporters he was giving President Marc Ravalomanana four hours to step down, Reuters reported. Rajoelina told a rally in the central square of the capital Antananarivo he was ready for a democratic handover of power on the Indian Ocean island and would go to the presidential palace to bid Ravalomanana goodbye. "There is only one demand, that's the departure of Ravalomanana," Rajoelina said. "We will wait four hours." Rajoelina, 34, a former disc jockey, had been under U.N. protection since fleeing attempts to arrest him last week. He calls the president a dictator and has tapped into deep public resentment at Ravalomanana's failure to tackle poverty. Earlier, opposition members seized control of the prime minister's office, declared they had assumed the powers of the presidency and pledged to hold elections within two years. An aide to the president said the opposition had no legal authority and that Ravalomanana remained in his palace. "This is and remains until now a street protest, using fear and repression to survive," the aide, who declined to be named, said. "It is unclear right now whether the whole of the army is behind the opposition. The president is still at Iavoloha." The political crisis has been running since the beginning of 2009, killing more than 135 people and damaging Madagascar's image as a sound destination for foreign investment.
