Madagascar court orders run-off

The protests have at times turned violent

Madagascar's High Constitutional Court has defied vast opposition protests and ordered a run-off second round of voting in the island's presidential elections.

President Ratsiraka has remained largely silent since the polls

Opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana immediately rejected the ruling, reiterating his claim that he had garnered enough votes in the first round for all-out victory.

But the court ruled that neither he nor incumbent president Didier Ratsiraka qualified as the winner of December's elections.

About 150,000 opposition supporters packed the streets of the capital Antananarivo on Friday - as they have done ever since the polls - demanding that Mr Ravalomanana be declared president.

Under the court ruling, the second round has to be held within 30 days.

Verdict refused

"We refuse this verdict and we will stay on (this square) until all our demands are accepted," Mr Ravalomanana was quoted as telling the peaceful demonstration in the centre of the capital.

According to the Associated Press news agency, the opposition leader, who is also the city's mayor, called for further daily demonstrations.

Mr Ravalomanana believes the count was fiddled

The opposition is demanding that the court hold a public hearing to compare the differing tallies of all political parties from the first round of voting.

The official count, backed by the latest court ruling, gave Mr Ravalomanana 46.21% of the vote and President Ratsiraka 40.89%, necessitating a second round.

The opposition says it won 52.1%, enough for an outright victory.

International monitors have backed the opposition demand for a recount and public hearing.

Mr Ravalomanana has also said he would be satisfied if President Ratsiraka was disqualified for foul play in the polls.

In 1991, street protests forced Mr Ratsiraka to introduce multi-party elections and he lost the first contest in 1993, before being re-elected three years later.