Andry Rajoelina, 49, was re-elected president of Madagascar after the first round of elections, which ten opposition candidates called for a boycott and whose results they have already refused to accept.
Mr. Rajoelina, running for a second term at the helm of the large Indian Ocean island, won 58.95% of the votes cast, according to results presented by the electoral commission at a news conference in Antananarivo on Saturday.
Andry Rajoelina, elected since 2018, first came to power in 2009 thanks to a mutiny that drove out former President Marc Ravalomanana.
Around eleven million Malagasy people registered on the electoral list were called to vote on November 16th. They had to choose between Mr. Rajoelina and twelve other official candidates.
But ten opposition candidates gathered in a collective, including two former presidents, had urged voters to “remember that these elections do not exist.” They refused to campaign.
“What results? Which choice? They responded to a request for comment on Rajoelina’s victory. On Friday, the collective had already announced that it would not recognize the results.
“We will not recognize the results of this illegitimate election full of irregularities and reject any responsibility for the political and social instability that could result from it,” the opponents warned.
The voter turnout rate is just over 46%, down compared to the previous presidential election in 2018.
“Worrying anomalies”
At this stage, the group of opponents has indicated no intention to take legal action to formally challenge the result of the vote. He also did not call for people to take to the streets again.
The collective called for demonstrations in Antananarivo almost daily and weeks before the presidential election. The protests, which were not massively persecuted, were regularly dispersed with tear gas.
In June, the political crisis in the country was triggered by the disclosure of Andry Rajoelina’s French naturalization in 2014, which was carried out in complete discretion. According to the opposition, this was intended to stop him from running, but the courts refused to invalidate his candidacy.
The group of opposition candidates accused the government of reappointing Mr. Rajoelina and denouncing “an institutional coup.” He called for a suspension of the electoral process and the intervention of the international community.
In recent months, eight countries and organizations, including the United States and the European Union, have expressed “concern” about tensions at demonstrations and denounced excessive use of force against the opposition.
The collective also complained about irregularities during the vote: closed polling stations, missing ballot boxes, use of state resources by the outgoing candidate for his election campaign.
One of the two opponents formally remaining in the race, Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, also complained about “anomalies” that he said “raise legitimate questions about the validity of the results.”
The election commission’s results still need to be validated within nine days by the Supreme Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, within which disputes can be appealed.