Madagascar’s Prime Minister Olivier Mahafaly has resigned in an effort to solve a political crisis ahead of elections due later this year.
Last month, the Constitutional Court ordered the president to form a new government with a prime minister supported by all political parties.
That has still not happened but the resignation of the prime minister is being seen as a positive step.
Last week the defence minister said if a solution could not be found, the military would intervene.
There has been growing concern that there is a risk of a repeat of the 2009 political crisis that badly damaged Madagascar’s economy.
Since gaining independence from France in 1960, the Indian Ocean nation has experienced repeated political instability, including coups, violent unrest and disputed elections.