2023-11-25 08:38:58
The Malagasy electoral commission announced on Saturday the re-election of Andry Rajoelina following the first round of the presidential election on November 16. Ten opposition candidates called on voters to boycott the vote.
Published on : Modified :
3 mn
Andry Rajoelina, 49, was re-elected president of Madagascar following the first round of a vote that ten opposition candidates had called for to boycott, the Malagasy electoral commission announced on Saturday, November 25.
Andry Rajoelina, who is leaving for a second term at the head of the large island in the Indian Ocean, won 58.95% of the votes in the first round of voting held on November 16, according to the results presented during of a press conference in Antananarivo.
“The Malagasy people have chosen the path of continuity, serenity and stability,” he welcomed to the press shortly following. Thanking voters for their “wisdom”, he assured that they “expressed themselves freely”.
Elected since 2018, he first came to power in 2009 thanks to a mutiny driving out former president Marc Ravalomanana.
“We will not recognize the results”
Some eleven million Malagasy people registered on the electoral lists were called to the polls on November 16. They had to choose between the outgoing president and twelve other official candidates. But ten opposition candidates including two former presidents, gathered in a collective, had called on voters to “consider that these elections do not exist”. They even refused to campaign.
“What results? What election?”, they gave in response to a request for comment on Andry Rajoelina’s victory. On Friday, the collective had already announced that it would not recognize the results.
“We will not recognize the results of this illegitimate election, riddled with irregularities, and we decline all responsibility for the political and social instability that might result from it,” opponents warned.
The participation rate in the vote is barely above 46%, down compared to the previous presidential election in 2018.
At this stage, the group of opponents has not indicated any intention to take legal action to formally challenge the outcome of the vote. Nor did they call for people to take to the streets once more.
Almost daily and for weeks before the presidential election, the collective called for demonstrations in Antananarivo. The protests, which were not massively followed, were regularly dispersed with tear gas.
“Worrying anomalies”
The political crisis in the country was triggered in June by the revelation of the French naturalization, in complete discretion, of Andry Rajoelina in 2014. According to the opposition, this was to prevent him from running but the courts refused to invalidate his candidacy.
The group of opposition candidates accused the government of maneuvering to reappoint Andry Rajoelina and denounced an “institutional coup d’état”. He called for a suspension of the electoral process and the intervention of the international community.
Eight countries and organizations, including the United States and the European Union, have expressed their “concern” in recent months following tensions during demonstrations and denounced excessive use of force once morest the opposition.
The collective also denounced irregularities during the voting: closed polling stations, lack of ballot boxes, use by the outgoing candidate of state resources for his campaign.
One of the two opponents who formally remained in the race, Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, also denounced “concerning anomalies” which, according to him, “raise legitimate questions regarding the validity of the results”.
The results of the electoral commission must still be validated by the High Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country, within nine days during which appeals in the event of disputes can be filed.
With AFP
1700923309
#Andry #Rajoelina #reelected #president #vote #boycotted #opposition
