SANF 06 No 109
Marc Ravalomanana is poised for a second term as Madagascar’s president as preliminary results point to a comfortable lead for the incumbent leader in 3 December presidential polls.
Preliminary results from the Ministry of Interior and Administrative Reform (MIRA) gave Ravalomanana 55 percent against around 12 percent for his nearest rival, Jean Lahiniriko. Lahiniriko is a former speaker of the National Assembly.
Turnout across the country was 61.5 percent of about seven million people eligible to vote, according to the Interior Ministry.
A total of 14 candidates contested for the presidency of the Indian Ocean island. These included Elia Ravelomanantsoa, the only female candidate; Pierrot Rajaonarivelo of the Association of the Rebirth of Madagascar party; former church minister, Richard Andriamanjato; and Roland Ratsiraka, mayor of the port city of Toamasina and nephew to former president, Didier Ratsiraka.
Randriamahenina Theodore, director of Democratic Promotion under MIRA, said all the results will be handed over to the Constitutional High Court which will be required to announce the final results within 10 days.
The responsibilities for election administration in Madagascar are divided among MIRA, the National Electoral Council (NEC) and the High Constitutional Court (HCC).
MIRA is responsible for organising elections while the NEC is charged with the supervision and oversight of the electoral process. The HCC is responsible for the final verification and announcement of the results.
The inauguration of the president-elect is expected in early January.
According to Madagascar’s constitution, Ravalomanana, 57, needed to win more than 50 percent of the votes to avoid a run-off.
The president is elected by direct popular vote for a five-year term and the country’s electoral system provides for the conduct of a run-off in the event that there is no clear winner from the first round.
This was the eighth presidential elections since Madagascar’s independence from France 1965 and it would be the first for an incumbent president to win re-election if Ravalomanana is confirmed winner.
The incumbent president has since coming to power in 2002, however, managed to stabilise the economy and won the confidence of major multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
With an economy largely dependent on agriculture – which along with fishing and forestry contributes at least 25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the island also produces coffee, cassava, bananas, maize, sugarcane, potatoes and rice.
Mining and tourism sectors have shown signs of recovery and the government has projected increases in mineral exports from about US$100 million to US$150 million per year over the next 10 years.
The biggest boost to the Malagasy economy has been the discovery of oil which has recently triggered a scramble by international oil conglomerates. Initial projections are that the country could produce 60,000 barrels per day in three to four years. With potential revenue of billions of dollars, this oil boom would make the industry the biggest contributor to GDP.
