Signs of hope for troubled vanilla island
Publish date: 12 November 2018
Issue Number: 799
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Madagascar
Despite allegations of graft by one of the three former Presidents who are frontrunners in Madagascar’s hotly-contested poll, it appears that the crucial election has gone smoothly. Legalbrief reports that while election observers have flagged some irregularities, there are now real hopes that the election could see political stability return to the world’s leading producer of vanilla. Sunday’s preliminary results indicate that Andry Rajoelina is leading last week’s poll ahead of rival fierce rival Marc Ravalomanana. Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who ruled from 2014 until September this year when he had to resign to contest the election, is the third contestant. The former French colony, which gained independence in 1960, has been mired in political division and upheaval for decades. A disputed 2001 presidential election led to violent clashes that ended with Ravalomanana, the mayor of the capital, taking power. The outgoing leader was Didier Ratsiraka, a one-time Marxist who had ruled since 1975 and went into exile. Ravalomanana was toppled in 2009 by Rajoelina, in an army-backed coup. However, a report on the Journal du Cameroun site notes that Rajoelina was disqualified as a candidate in the 2013 elections for his links to the country's troubled past, as were Ravalomanana's wife and Ratsiraka. Protests erupted again in April over claims that laws ahead of the presidential vote would see certain candidates barred. After weeks of unrest and calls for him to quit, Rajaonarimampianina was forced to replace his government with a ‘consensus’ administration in June.
After counting from 30.6% of polling stations, Rajoelina was ahead with 40.9% of the votes against 36% for Ravalomanana, the electoral authority said. Rajaonarimampianina had 7% of ballots. A report on the EWN site notes that his attempts to change the electoral laws this year backfired, sparking nearly three months of violent protests in the capital Antananarivo. The demonstrators forced Rajaonarimampianina to accept a ‘consensus’ government tasked with organising the election in an impoverished country burdened by a long history of coups and unrest. The report notes that the electoral regulations mean the two front runners will be forced into a run-off in December if neither manages to secure more than 50% of the votes in the first round ballot. Both Ravalomanana and Rajaonarimampianina have denounced irregularities and fraud, but the national election commission has rejected the accusations.
Ravalomanana on Friday claimed that journalists from the state broadcaster had been bribed to leave the election commission’s headquarters during vote tallying. ‘I call on those who accuse us of taking cash to bring proof,’ said commission president Yves Herinirina Rakotomanana. A report on the News24 site notes that Ravalomanana's camp had also attacked the commission for the slow progress in counting the votes cast in Wednesday's poll. ‘The law says that we have to release the complete results by 20 November – and that's what we'll do,’ added Rakotomanana.
The SADC Lawyer’s Association said the elections were competitive, the campaign was largely peaceful and freedom of movement, assembly and speech, were respected. ‘However, the general absence of swift and tight implementation of pre-election campaign regulations, extreme disparities in access to funding by candidates, unfair access to media houses and a weak electoral dispute resolution system provide room for improvement,’ said SADCLA mission head Maxwell Boqwana in a statement received by Legalbrief. A report on the News24 site notes that AU observers said the three leading contenders ‘should show restraint and respect the law’. ‘It's not in their interests to act in a way that causes tension or trouble,’ said the AU's observer mission chief Ramtane Lamamra. Lidia Geringer, the head of the European Parliament delegation, described the election as ‘something of a last chance poll’ for Madagascar's democratic and economic development prospects. The EU observation mission said it noted only minor irregularities that would not impact the election outcome. Two cases of ballot stuffing were reported out of nearly 25 000 polling stations nationwide. ‘What we are describing are difficulties and anomalies, which is to say logistical issues that wouldn't have affected the credibility of the elections,’ said the EU’s monitoring mission Cristian Preda.
