Lahiniriko was born in Tongobory, Atsimo-Andrefana in the south of Madagascar and studied at the Lycée de génie civil d'Ampefoloha à Antananarivo.
On May 8, the National Assembly voted Lahiniriko out of his position as its president, with 119 out of 160 legislators in favor of his removal.
Lahiniriko received his strongest support in his home province of Toliara, where he won 45.95% of the vote, ten points more than Ravalomanana.
He and third place candidate Roland Ratsiraka said that they were challenging the results in court and that they wanted the election to be held over again.
[14] Ravalomanana was forced to resign amidst a political crisis in March 2009, and opposition leader Andry Rajoelina took power.