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Madagascar court backs handover Madagascar court backs handover
(31 minutes later)
Madagascar's highest court has backed the handover of power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina.Madagascar's highest court has backed the handover of power to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina.
It comes a day after military leaders conferred powers to the 34-year-old following President Marc Ravalomanana's dramatic resignation.It comes a day after military leaders conferred powers to the 34-year-old following President Marc Ravalomanana's dramatic resignation.
Under the current constitution, former disc jockey Mr Rajoelina is six years too young to be elected president.Under the current constitution, former disc jockey Mr Rajoelina is six years too young to be elected president.
He told the BBC the constitution would have to be changed and promised elections within two years.He told the BBC the constitution would have to be changed and promised elections within two years.
Although foreign governments held back from legitimising the power shift, the constitutional court announced its approval in a radio address on Wednesday after being approached by Mr Rajoelina's supporters.
Mr Rajoelina later addressed thousands of supporters in the centre of the capital and promised a return to "normal life, to security and above all national reconciliation", reported Reuters news agency.
The BBC's Jonah Fisher, in the capital Antananarivo, says the legal decision is part of a process of legitimising Mr Rajoelina as president after he effectively seized power with the backing of his supporters and the military.
Our correspondent says there is relief on the streets that the Indian Ocean island's power struggle, which has left more than 100 people dead since January, was resolved without further bloodshed.
According to a legal document obtained by AFP news agency, the constitutional court "proclaims that Mr Andry Rajoelina exercises the attributions of the president of the Republic as stated by the provisions of the constitution".
But according to Malagasy law, the head of parliament's upper house should have taken over after the president's resignation and organised an election within two months.
Mr Rajoelina has moved quickly to consolidate his grip his authority.
"There must not be a power vacuum," he told the BBC's World Today programme.
He promised elections within the next 18 to 24 months and, asked why earlier elections would not be held, said he did not want "history to repeat itself".
"We'll have to change the constitution," he told the BBC. "We'll have to analyse the law on political parties, the electoral code; we need time to do all this."
Asked about the future of Mr Ravalomanana - whose whereabouts a day after his ousting were unclear - Mr Rajoelina said that was up to the judiciary.
He effectively took charge on Tuesday evening after the army rejected a plan laid out by the departing President Ravalomanana to hand over power to a military directorate.
Mr Rajoelina paraded triumphantly through the streets of the capital, after installing himself at the presidential residence seized by soldiers on Monday night.
It marked a dramatic victory for the young politician, who was sacked as mayor of the capital in February.
The African Union - which had urged the army not to hand power to Mr Rajoelina, saying this would amount to a coup - has called for the security of the outgoing president to be guaranteed.
The Southern Africa Development Community (Sadc) condemned in advance any direct seizure of power by Mr Rajoelina.