Madagascar: Police violence mars election build-up

Tensions are high in Madagascar as President Andry Rajoelina and his long-standing rival, former president Marc Ravalomanana, prepare for the island nation to head to the polls on 16 November. The country is aiming for its third peaceful election since the 2009 coup, with a second round scheduled for 20 November.

While Rajoelina, who is seeking a second consecutive term as president, is firmly on the campaign trail, Ravalomanana has been leading a procession of demonstrators through the streets of the capital, Antananarivo, every day since early October.

With the non-violent protest marches, Ravalomanana is targeting the highly symbolic Place du 13-Mai in Antananarivo, the rallying point where Malagasy regimes have come and gone for decades.

President Rajoelina is in a good position to win

Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, however, police have cracked down hard. At a