MADAGASCAR President Andry Rajoelina has won re-election in the first round of a ballot boycotted by nearly all opposition candidates in the Indian Ocean island nation, the election commission said Saturday.
Rajoelina won 58.95 percent of the votes cast in the November 16 presidential election, according to the results presented by the poll body which need to be validated by the Constitutional Court.
Turnout was just over 46 percent, down on the previous presidential election in 2018, which the election commission blamed on “ambient political climate” and “manipulation of opinion”.
“The Malagasy people have chosen the path of continuity and stability”, the 49-year-old Rajoelina said after the results were announced.
Rajoelina first came to power in 2009 following a mutiny that ousted former president Marc Ravalomanana. He then skipped the following elections only to make a winning comeback in 2018.
The 11 million voters had to choose between Rajeolina and 12 other candidates. Ten of the incumbent’s rivals refused to campaign and urged voters to shun the ballot, branding it a farce.
Rajoelina, a former mayor of the capital Antananarivo, is accused by rivals of corruption, greed, and turning a blind eye to the pillage of the country’s natural resources, including its precious rosewood forests.
“What results? What election?” was the joint opposition response to a request for comment on Rajeolina’s victory.
“We will not recognise the results of this illegitimate election, riddled with irregularities, and we decline all responsibility for the political and social instability that could ensue”, the opponents warned.
