Madagascar votes in presidential election amid calls for boycott

 

Voters in Madagascar Thursday headed to the polls for a presidential election boycotted by several opposition candidates.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. local time (03:00 GMT) and will close at 5 p.m. for 11 million registered voters, according to the election commission.

Thirteen candidates are vying for the post, including incumbent Andry Rajoelina, who is seeking a second term.

Soava Andriamarotafika, the spokesperson for the electoral commission, said provisional results would be released on Nov. 24.

The second round of election will be conducted on Dec. 20 if none of the candidates receives 50% of the vote.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), the African Union, and the European Union have deployed its election observers.

The campaigns were overshadowed by a series of protests called by opposition aspirants quelled with tear gas.

A coalition of 10 out of 12 opposition candidates, including former presidents Hery Rajaonarimampianina and Marc Ravalomanana, have called on voters to boycott the election over transparency concerns.

Rajoelina held his last campaign rally in the capital Antananarivo on Sunday before thousands of enthusiastic supporters.

There had been speculation Rajoelina’s candidature could be rejected surrounding his dual French-Malagasy nationality. He won the last vote in December 2018, beating Ravalomanana in the second round said to have been marred by irregularities.​​​​​​​

Source: aa.com.tr/en

Liberians await election result after George Weah v Joseph Boakai run-off

 

Counting is ongoing in  Liberia's presidential run-off election after neither of the main candidates won October's first round outright.

Just 7,000 votes separated the current president, retired football star George Weah, and former Vice-President Joseph Boakai.

While Mr Weah won the first round he failed to get more than 50% of the vote, triggering a run-off.

Counting will conclude on Wednesday, the National Elections Commission said.Nine election commission staff arrested over alleged ballot-tampering after October's vote.

The UN also reported clashes between supporters of rival opposition parties.

This is the fourth presidential election since Liberia's second civil war which ended more than 20 years ago after more than 50,000 people died.

The BBC's Moses Garzeawu in the capital, Monrovia, said Liberians had been "hungry to vote" and long queues were reported at polling stations.

The head of the national elections commission, Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, said: "We want to thank all Liberians who left their bed this morning. Stay in the line and vote."

Mr Weah, 57, got 43.8% of the vote in the first round, and Mr Boakai, 78, got 43.4%. Eighteen other candidates ran in the first round.

Mr Boakai has focused on investing in agriculture and infrastructure in his campaigning.

He has also highlighted the need to rescue the nation from what he calls "mismanagement" by Mr Weah's administration.

The president has been talking about improving education and dealing with unemployment.

He has asked voters for more time to see the results of his first-term promises, to root out corruption and improve livelihoods.

Liberia is still recovering from the impact of two civil wars between 1989 and 2003, and the Ebola epidemic that killed thousands of people between 2013 and 2016.

According to the World Bank, the West African nation's economy expanded by 4.8% in 2022, because of "mining and a relatively good agricultural harvest".

This is not the first time the two men have faced each other. In 2017, Mr Weah beat Mr Boakai, gaining 61% of the vote in the second round.

Voting closed at 18:00 GMT  on Tuesday local time on  and results are expected to be announced on Wednesday.

Source: bbc.com

Liberia’s Weah and rival Boakai meet again in presidential run-off

Liberians are voting today in a run-off election between President George Weah and former Vice President Joseph Boakai after a fiercely fought first round in which neither was able to score over 50 percent of the vote to secure an outright victory.

Football icon Weah, 57, led the first round in October, gaining 43.83 percent of the vote, and Boakai had 43.44 percent

Analysts say the thin margin of votes between them – just 7,126 votes out of almost two million votes – and the absence of a strong third candidate, means the round will also be very competitive.

The 2023 election has been a rematch of the vote in 2017 when Weah won with over 61 percent.

This is the country’s fourth post-war presidential election but the first one without the presence of the United Nations mission which previously provided support to the country’s elections commission.

Analysts say the election is a referendum on the ruling party’s stint in power so far.

Some voters have become disenchanted with Weah’s performance, particularly on corruption, high rate of youth unemployment, food inflation and general economic hardship. He fired his chief of staff and two other senior officials after the United States imposed sanctions on them for corruption.

Ruling party supporters say a new law in July 2022 granting the anticorruption commission prosecutorial power, is evidence of the administration’s fight against corruption. However, opponents point out that two of the officials sanctioned by the US in 2022 ran for parliamentary seats on the platform of the ruling party.

Weah has blamed the coronavirus pandemic and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war for failure to deliver on economic targets.

Source: Aljazeera.com