Johannesburg  - Ousted Madagascar leader Marc Ravalomanana on Friday called for "urgent" measures to restore stability to the troubled island on the eve of a crisis Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit on the situation.

"SADC has been asking for the immediate restoration of constitutional order and a democratic government in Madagascar," Ravalomanana, said in a statement in French issued in South Africa, where he has been in exile since March.

"It's clear that an urgent option is necessary to achieve those objectives," Ravalomanana said, referring to himself as Madagascar's president.

A handful of heads of state from the the 15-nation SADC are due to meet tomorrow in Johannesburg to discuss the breakdown in negotiations between Madagascar's rival parties on the formation of a consensus government.

South African President Jacob Zuma will chair the summit that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete are also slated to attend. Ministerial-level meetings in preparation of the summit were due to take place Friday.

Members of Ravalomanana's Tiako i Madagasikara (I love Madagascar) party say he wants SADC to use the threat of military intervention to force interim president Andry Rajoelina to return to the negotiating table, even though SADC is deemed unlikely to make such a threat at this stage.

The impoverished Indian Ocean island has been in turmoil since January year, when the opposition, led by Rajoelina, former mayor of the capital Antananarivo, took to the streets accusing Ravalomanana of misrule.

Seven weeks later, Ravalomanana, who was democratically re-elected to a second five-year term in 2006, agreed to step aside, under pressure from a section of the military.

Rajoelina was later sworn in as interim president but the international community is refusing to recognize his leadership.

The African Union, which suspended Madagascar from its ranks after Rajoelina came to power, suspended talks between the parties on Tuesday after failing to clinch agreement on a consensus government.

SADC also suspended Madagascar's membership over what it called the "unconstitutional" transfer of power by the military to Rajoelina.

Earlier this month, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa said military options to restore order in Madagascar were a possibility.(dpa)