Thursday, November 7, 2013

Madagascar: Two ex-presidents rally behind bid to cancel election results

Two former presidents of Madagascar, Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy, are rallying behind a bid by some candidates to cancel results of the first round of presidential election held on Oct. 25. The candidates demanding the scrapping of the results include Voninahitsy Jean Eugene, who won 2.13 percent; Lahiniriko Jean, who scored 0.87 percent; Alain Tehindrazanarivelo, who secured 0. 57 percent; and Noelson William, took 0.31 percent.

They are calling on other candidates with less than 10 percent of the tally to join them in pressing for the cancellation of the election results, according the local daily newspaper l'Midi.  Candidate Randriamampionona Joseph Martin, who won 2.34 percent, attended a meeting held in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo Tuesday, while four other candidates sent representatives like former presidents Ratsiraka and Zafy.

Eugene said their goal is to the reparation of irregularities they noted during the elections. The union of candidates vowed to meet twice a week to persist in their demand. The two leading candidates accept the results and are preparing for the a run-off set for Dec. 20.  Jean Louis Robinson, supported by former president Marc Ravalomanana, took the lead with his 21.44 percent of votes. Hery Rajaonarimampianina turned out the second with 15.68 percent of votes. His supporter, Transitional President Andry Rajoelina, has already expressed readiness to accept the results.

The international community and its 800 international observers hailed the peaceful vote during the first round.  The electoral commission headed by Atallah Beatrice has expressed optimism and promised to publish full results by Friday.  The first round involves 33 candidates and more than 7.8 million voters across 20,001 polling stations in the Indian Ocean island country. According to law, the Special Electoral Court will have until Nov. 20 to judge over all disputes before announcing the final results.


Source: Shanghai Daily

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