The First Republic
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The opposition regrouped under the name Congress Party for the Independence of Madagascar (Antokon’ny Kongresin’ny Fahaleovantenan’i Madagasikara; AKFM), which included both Protestant Merina dissidents and communists. Antananarivo was the party’s stronghold; it also had some support in the provinces but, owing to the electoral system established by the PSD, held only three seats in the legislature.
The PSD also settled the provincial question: executive power in the local assemblies was vested in a minister delegated by the central government. Tsiranana was elected president of the republic, and he was instrumental in obtaining its independence on June 26, 1960. Tsiranana and the PSD remained in power until 1972. Under his regime, successive development plans were inspired, according to Tsiranana, by a “grassroots socialism” and were aimed at improving the lot of the peasantry. In foreign policy the bond with France remained strong, and close relations were established with the United States, West Germany, Taiwan, South Africa, and other anticommunist powers.
Although Tsiranana was reelected in January 1972, political and labour unrest culminated in an uprising known as the May 1972 revolution. This, coupled with his own poor health, led him to appoint Maj. Gen. Gabriel Ramanantsoa as prime minister with full powers of government, and the First Republic came to an end.
Transition
A plebiscite on October 8, 1972, confirmed Ramanantsoa as head of government; there was no longer a president after Tsiranana resigned on October 11. The new head of government initiated radically different foreign and domestic policies. Under new agreements with France, French military and naval forces were removed from the island, and all French citizens were treated as aliens. Ties were established with the Soviet Union and other communist nations, and the country was withdrawn from the Franc Zone. In 1973 a rural reorganization program—in which elected committees would sell produce to state-owned companies—was initiated, and the government began to take control of joint French-Malagasy organizations.
In the wake of political and social unrest, on February 5, 1975, Ramanantsoa handed power over to a former minister of the interior, Col. Richard Ratsimandrava. He assumed the titles of president and prime minister but was assassinated six days later. A military directorate was then established; it dissolved on June 15, after naming Lieut. Comdr. Didier Ratsiraka president and head of the Revolutionary Council. A referendum on December 21, 1975, approved Ratsiraka as president under a new constitution that set up the Democratic Republic of Madagascar.