Published November 24, 2011 | By Raphaël Jaeger

Since its independence from France in 1960, Madagascar has been frequently subject to disputed elections, social unrest and coups. On March 2009, after several weeks of tensions and riots, the mayor of the capital city Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina toppled President Marc Ravalomanana in an army-backed coup that put the country on the brink of a major humanitarian crisis. Power was then handed to a military directorate amid violent street protests. International non-emergency aid has since been frozen although a Peace Road Map was signed in September 2011, with elections scheduled for March 2012. The unrest has also had a harmful effect on the economy in a country where 77% of the population live on less than $1 per day. After several previous flouted agreements and cancelled ballots, the High Transition Authority (HTA) urgently needs to increase its capacity and legitimacy by consolidating democracy to end the country's protracted leadership battle while 80% of the population lives without access to basic public services.