Madagascar’s current President, Andry Rajoelina, has been re-elected for a third term in a controversial election that was boycotted by the opposition and its supporters.
Rajoelina secured 59% of the vote, defeating his closest rivals, former President Marc Ravalomanana and Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko.
The voter turnout for the election was only 46%, the lowest in the country’s history.
The low turnout was a result of 10 presidential contenders urging people to boycott the polls due to concerns about the election’s credibility and Rajoelina’s eligibility to run for a third term, given his dual French nationality.
The constitutional court rejected their appeals to invalidate Rajoelina’s candidacy, and he dismissed the accusations as a political tactic.
Despite the withdrawal of the opposition candidates, their names remained on the ballot, with Randrianasoloniaiko receiving 14% of the vote and Ravalomanana receiving 12%.
The constitutional court has a deadline of nine days to confirm the results that were announced on Saturday by Madagascar’s electoral body, Ceni.
The opposition group that boycotted the election has already stated that they will not accept the results of the poll that took place on November 16th.
Prior to the election, there were six weeks of protests and clashes with the police, which led to a curfew being imposed in Antananarivo on the day before the poll.
In 2018, Andry Rajoelina, a 49-year-old entrepreneur and former DJ, won a presidential run-off against Mr. Ravalomanana after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in the first round.
Rajoelina had previously overthrown Ravalomanana in a 2009 coup that had the support of the army.
Rajoelina now faces the challenging task of creating jobs and improving the economy in a country where 75% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank
He is expected to bring political stability to a nation that has experienced years of political unrest.
