 Tsitohery defeated Lahiniriko by a large margin according to provisional results, winning 52.06% of the vote against Lahiniriko's 22.39%, a difference of 11,600 votes; however, Lahiniriko's supporters disputed this, claiming he was actually ahead of Tsitohery by 2,873 votes.Ravalomanana was forced to resign amidst a political crisis in March 2009, and opposition leader Andry Rajoelina took power.Rajoelina set up the High Authority of the Transition (HAT) as the ruling body, and Lahiniriko was appointed as one of the HAT's 44 members on March 31, 2009.