Madagascar has commenced its presidential election amid a turbulent campaign period marked by boycotts and allegations of election irregularities. Despite an overnight curfew and months of protests leading up to the election, voting began smoothly on Thursday morning in the Indian Ocean nation.<\/p>\n
President Andry Rajoelina, a former DJ who first assumed power with the backing of the army in 2009, is now seeking a second consecutive term in office. However, his candidacy has been met with opposition, with critics accusing him of attempting an “institutional coup” to stay in power, and ten key opposition candidates urging voters to boycott the elections.<\/p>\n
Street protests in the capital, Antananarivo, have been a common sight in recent weeks, organized by the opposition, and met with police dispersals using tear gas, resulting in dozens of arrests. Roland Ratsiraka, one of the protesting candidates, stated, \u201cWe do not want to participate in this fraud; it is a joke on Madagascar.”<\/p>\n
Despite the controversies, Rajoelina remains confident about securing re-election in the first round of voting. The country has been in turmoil since reports in June revealed Rajoelina’s acquisition of French nationality in 2014. According to local law, the president should have lost his Madagascan nationality, prompting opposition claims of his disqualification. Rajoelina has defended himself, stating that he became French to allow his children to study abroad and that he has not been notified of any loss of his Madagascan nationality.<\/p>\n
Critics have also expressed discontent over a ruling allowing an ally of the president to lead the nation temporarily after Rajoelina’s resignation to stand for re-election, further heightening tensions. Allegations of electoral irregularities have added to the discontent, with some citizens expressing dissatisfaction over Rajoelina’s 11-year rule, citing minimal progress.<\/p>\n
Amid the turmoil, economic challenges take center stage for many residents in one of the world’s poorest countries. “What matters to us is first and foremost getting by on a daily basis,” says Benedicte Lalaoarison, an underwear seller in central Antananarivo.<\/p>\n
Rajoelina, who first came to power in 2009 through a coup, returned to win elections in 2018 after skipping an electoral cycle. Despite the opposition’s refusal to campaign, he has continued his efforts, showcasing developments during his tenure. His campaign condemns those calling for a boycott, accusing them of attempting to “sabotage” the vote and hold the nation “hostage.”<\/p>\n
With 11 million people registered to vote in a country of about 30 million, a strong turnout becomes crucial for Rajoelina, particularly in the face of widespread boycotts. The unfolding events will shape the trajectory of Madagascar’s political landscape in the coming days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Madagascar has commenced its presidential election amid a turbulent campaign period marked by boycotts and allegations of election irregularities. Despite an overnight curfew and months of protests leading up to the election, voting began smoothly on Thursday morning in the Indian Ocean nation. President Andry Rajoelina, a former DJ who first assumed power with the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[249],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6582,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6469\/revisions\/6582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}