SANF 13 No 36 – by Joseph Ngwawi
Madagascar is set for a run-off on 20 December after no presidential candidate amassed enough votes to be declared outright winner following elections held in late October.
Former Health Minister Jean-Louis Robinson and ex-Finance Minister Hery Rajaonarimampianina led first round presidential polls with 21 and 16 percent of the vote, respectively, but failed to win sufficient votes for an outright majority.
The Madagascar Constitution requires that a presidential candidate must amass 50 percent-plus-one of total votes cast in a national election to be declared as president. Robinson and Rajaonarimampianina will face each other in the run-off that will be held along with parliamentary elections.
According to provisional results announced by the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI-T) on 8 November, Robinson and Rajaonarimampianina emerged as the two candidates with the most votes in the first round elections, receiving 21 and 16 percent of the vote, respectively.
The rest of the vote was split among 31 other candidates. The provisional results will now go to the Special Electoral Court (SEC) for validation.
The winner will replace Andry Rajoelina, a former disc jockey who ousted former president, Marc Ravalomanana in a military-backed coup in 2009, in a similar method used by Ravalomanana to oust his predecessor, Didier Ratsiraka.
Rajoelina, Ravalomanana and his wife Lalao Ravalomanana together with Ratsiraka were barred by the SEC from taking part in the elections to prevent a repeat of the turmoil that accompanied the 2009 coup.
This decision was supported by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and other regional organizations including the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU).
Voter turnout was high during the elections at about 62 percent of registered voters as the people of Madagascar chose among 33 candidates for a new president to lead them out of a political crisis of nearly five years.
More than 7.8 registered voters cast their ballots at 20,001 polling stations across the country. Of these, more than 2.7 million voters were registered in the capital Antananarivo alone.
The election was endorsed as credible, free and fair by SADC, AU and EU observers. Head of the SADC Election Observer Mission (SEOM), Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said the voting process was generally “peacefully and in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act” despite concerns raised by some of the contestants.
Some of the concerns raised by the presidential candidates were use of the single ballot paper system, the state of the voters roll, poor voter education, accessibility of some areas, and security of the election material.
“The SEOM observed that in general voting took place in a peaceful, free, and transparent environment and that CENI-T staff conducted themselves professionally,” she said. Nandi-Ndaitwah is Foreign Affairs Minister of Namibia, which currently chairs the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
The SADC mission to Madagascar was launched on 14 October and met with various stakeholders in Madagascar, including President of the Transitional Authority, Andry Rajoelina, presidential candidates, officials of the transitional government, and civil society organisations.
The observer mission was guided by various SADC instruments such as the SADC Treaty, the SADC Protocol on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, Madagascar was plagued by chaos following a military coup that ousted Madagascar’s elected President in March 2009.
The elections were a result of the SADC mediation effort led by former Mozambican president, Joachim Chissano.
Newly appointed SADC Executive Secretary, Stergomena Lawrence Tax noted that the success of the elections would mark a “new beginning” towards national reconciliation and reconstruction, and bring stability and development in Madagascar.
“It is our hope that once this phase is completed, the country will focus on socio-economic development and poverty eradication programmes,” she said.
The AU observer mission congratulated CENI-T and the people of Madagascar for conducting peaceful elections and called on the transitional government to ensure peace and security prevails until the presidential run-off and parliamentary elections.
It, however, noted several challenges that affected the smooth running of the elections such as lack of adequate voter education, problems with the voters roll, and confusion about closing times for voting.
The AU in September lifted sanctions against Rajoelina and his backers that were imposed three years ago to encourage negotiations after he seized power in the coup.
AU Peace and Security Commissioner, Ramtane Lamamra said in September that the AU was “immediately” lifting the targeted sanctions against a list of 109 individuals, including Rajoelina.
He said the sanctions, which included an asset freeze, were lifted because Madagascar was heading in the right direction to hold credible elections on October 25.
“There is a complete change of circumstances, because now the electoral process is very much on track and these personalities, including the president himself, have played a most active role,” Lamamra said at the time.
Madagascar has been suspended from the AU and SADC since 2009, but Lamamra said the Indian Ocean island would be reinstated if the presidential elections if they are deemed credible.The AU official said Madagascar would remain suspended until the swearing-in of the new president.
