Madagascar ex-presidents to contest run-off vote
Wednesday November 28 2018
Former presidents of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana (left) and Andry Rajoelina on August 25, 2018. FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Two former presidents of Madagascar, Mr Andry Rajoelina and Mr Marc Ravalomanana, will face each other in a run-off election next month to decide who will lead the Indian Ocean island nation, the country's top court announced on Wednesday.
The run-off comes after neither candidate won the 50 percent of votes required for a first-round victory on November 7, with Mr Rajoelina on 39.23 percent and Mr Ravalomanana 35.35 percent, according to final results released by the Constitutional Court.
"The two candidates cleared to go to the second round are Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana," Constitutional Court judge president Jean Eric Rakotoarisoa said.
The run-off vote is due on December 19.
International pressure
It is the first time the bitter rivals will have faced each other at the ballot box.
Both Mr Ravalomanana, 68, and Mr Rajoelina, 44, were banned from running in the last election in 2013 under international pressure to avoid a repeat of deadly political violence that engulfed the island in 2009.
Mr Ravalomanana ruled from 2002 to 2009 until he was ousted in a military-backed coup that installed Mr Rajoelina, who was in power until 2014.
Mr Rajoelina's successor and the country's immediate past president Hery Rajaonarimampianina was eliminated from the race after he came a distant third with just 8.82 percent of the ballots cast in November. The court shot down his application to annul the results.
Alleged irregularities
Judge Rakotoarisoa cautioned the two hopefuls to "avoid provocations" as they head to the final stretch of the election in a country which has history of political turmoil.
Last week Mr Ravalomanana withdrew his legal complaints over alleged irregularities in the first round, with his lawyer saying the decision was reached for the sake of "peace and sovereignty of Madagascar".
Madagascar is well known for its vanilla and precious redwood, yet is one of the world's poorest countries, according to World Bank data, with almost four in five people living in grinding poverty.
In the largely peaceful campaign to the first round of election, the frontrunners spent huge sums on flashy campaign rallies and helicopters, with 36 candidates in all.
The former French colony off the southeastern coast of Africa also has a long history of political instability and coups.