By Agnieszka Flak
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ousted Madagascar leader Marc Ravalomanana said on Monday he planned to return home in a few weeks and called for an election to end the political crisis that has shaken locals and foreign investors alike.
Ravalomanana quit last month after a weeks-long power struggle on the Indian Ocean island culminated with dissident troops backing his rival Andry Rajoelina.
The disturbances left at least 135 people dead and scared off tourists, a mainstay of the economy. In fresh violence on Monday, one person died during clashes between Ravalomanana's supporters and the security forces in the capital Antananarivo.
Ravalomanana has said he still regards himself as leader but is willing to share power, something Rajoelina has rejected.
Madagascar's new government has rejected an attempt by Ravalomanana to nominate a new prime minister and said it still had an arrest warrant out for him.
"I'll be back in Madagascar in a few weeks and the plan is to have anticipated (early) elections or a referendum before the end of the year. That is the only way out of the crisis," Ravalomanana told a news conference in Johannesburg.
"I'm not afraid to be arrested (when I go back). I trust SADC and the AU will help me to return to Madagascar," the self-made dairy tycoon said, referring to the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"We need to put pressure on this group, on this unconstitutional regime in Madagascar," he said.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
Rajoelina has said he will hold a presidential election in October 2010 to restore democracy. Ravalomanana's bid to return risks stoking tensions and reigniting violence.
Foreign leaders branded Rajoelina's rise to power a coup and demanded a quick election to restore constitutional order. Madagascar has been suspended from the AU and the SADC.
Ravalomanana, 59, has been on the road lobbying African leaders and foreign diplomats since he stepped aside.
His supporters hold near-daily protests in the capital in their thousands. On Monday, security forces used tear gas to disperse crowds outside the High Constitutional Court and fired warning shots in the air after they reassembled.
Prime Minister Roindefo Monja told reporters a police officer had been shot dead by the demonstrators although there was no independent way of confirming this.
"The provisional toll is 15 wounded and one dead -- a police officer who was killed by a bullet fired by the protesters. It's a strategy to dirty the interim administration," he said.
A notice outside a city centre hospital said one person died and 17 were injured as a result of the clash.
A spokesman for Ravalomanana's political party, Raharinaivo Andrianantoandro, urged thousands attending a rally in the city centre to seek a legal review of Rajoelina's suspension of parliament last month.
He also said the legality of Sunday's closure by the authorities of the former leader's privately-owned Radio and Television Mada should be reviewed.
(Additional reporting by Alain Iloniaina in Antananarivo, Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Jon Boyle)
