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Madagascar: Presidential election to be held on Friday
(AFP) – Eight million voters go to the polls Friday in a presidential election that is hoped will return Madagascar to democratic rule, attract much needed funding and pull the island-nation out of a debilitating economic rut occasioned by a coup in 2009.
Some 21,000 polling stations will open for the crucial election which has attracted some 800 international observers and 5,000 local ones.
Chinese observers were the latest to arrive, with Madagascar officials praising the Asian country for continuing to maintain relations following international sanctions imposed on the country as a result of the coup.
The run-up to the presidential election has been marked with low-level tensions.
Some 33 candidates will take part in the presidential race, which saw President Andry Rajoelina and rival (former president) Marc Ravalomana barred. If none of them obtains 50 percent of the vote, the two leading candidates will go into a second round on December 20.
Meanwhile, top officials contesting the elections are being removed from their functions, referring to information sent to newsrooms Wednesday night.
The country’s Justice minister Christine Razanamahasoa, Public Health minister Johanita Ndahimananjara, and Tourism minister Jean-Max Raktomamonjy are among those affected.
The 2009 coup that brought Rajoelina to power has had a negative impact on the country. Poverty levels have climbed nearly 8 per cent since 2005 – “the worst rate for a country not at war”, according to the World Bank’s chief in Madagascar, Haleh Bridi.
There is a good chance that if a new government is elected, it will likely enjoy greater legitimacy, allowing for the resumption of investment, both local and foreign.
What the citizens of the country are looking for is a return to stability and legitimacy in order to move on, investors will also be looking for the same.
Seeking to prevent a potential dispute after the vote, mediators managed to seal a deal to block incumbent president Rajoelina and former president Ravalomanana, the two main and fiercely bitter political rivals.
After a blocked attempt to push his wife Lalao to run, Ravalomanana decided to back Robinson Jean Louis, his former health minister. If he wins, Jean Louis has vowed to appoint either Ravalomanana or his wife as prime minister.
President Rajoelina’s TGV party has fielded three candidates for the race, a move likely to split its votes. The favorite of the trio is former finance minister Hery Rajaonarimampianina.