Ex-president Rajoelina wins Madagascar vote

ANTANANARIVO: Former Madagascan president Andry Rajoelina has beaten his rival and predecessor Marc Ravalomanana in an election beset by allegations of fraud, the electoral commission said Thursday.

Rajoelina has returned to power after he won 55.66 per cent against 44.34 per cent for Ravalomanana in the run- off vote held last week, it said.

The results, announced under high security, were quickly appealed by Ravalomana.

The defeated candidate filed papers with the Constitutional Court just hours after the electoral commission announced the election’s complete results.

The court has nine days to formally name the new president after it has reviewed the petition.

Ravalomana’s campaign director Anisoa Tseheno Rabenja accused the electoral commission of a ‘premeditated act’ in helping Rajoelina commit ‘ massive fraud’.

Rajoelina, meanwhile, called for unity and a ‘democratic’ transfer of power as he thanked those who voted for him and those who did not.

“I already came first in the first round, and the people of Madagascar have confirmed my victory in this second round,” he said.

“What matters is that the people of Madagascar were able to express themselves freely,” he added.

“My message is simple, the

I already came first in the first round, and the people of Madagascar have confirmed my victory in this second round. Andry Rajoelina, Former Madagascan president

people of Madagascar no longer need a crisis, they need a wise, unifying leader”.

Rajoelina, 44, sat in the front row among the 200 guests in the room where the electoral commission announced the results.

A seat next to him, apparently reserved for Ravalomanana, was empty, according to an AFP journalist.

“It’s unfortunate that the other candidate is not here,” the president of the electoral commission, Hery Rakotomanana, said.

The electoral commission chief said “efforts were made to respond” to concerns raised by both candidates, which included a review of the counting software.

The two-round election was plagued by mutual accusations of vote-rigging in a country with a long history of instability.

Heavily-armed police patrolled the area around the electoral commission offices for the announcement.

— AFP photo Rajoelina greets his supporters who came to attend his first political meeting at The Mahamasina Sports Palace in Antananarivo in this file photo.