Madagascar delays crucial elections

MADAGASCAR’s interim government has postponed key elections meant to end a four-year political deadlock on the island, after a special court found outside factors had derailed the poll preparations.

The Government Council decided on Wednesday “to call on the Cenit (election commission) to determine an election calendar”, it announced in a statement, opening the way for a new vote date.

An electoral court on Tuesday declared that a force majeure had compromised organisation for the July 24 presidential and parliamentary polls. It found the suspension of donor funds and international rejection of three controversial presidential candidates made it unlikely the Indian Ocean island would be ready by that date.

Interim leader Andry Rajoelina, who seized power with military backing in 2009, had on Monday asked for a one-month suspension of

Who can guarantee that if I resign there will be peace in the country? I cannot accept a divide between the people and civil war.

the vote. He had refused to step down on the two-month deadline ahead of elections as is required.

The African Union (AU), meanwhile, has refused to recognise his candidacy, along with those of his rival’s wife, Lalao Ravalomanana, and of former president Didier Ratsiraka. United Nations secretarygeneral Ban Ki-moon has called on all three candidates to withdraw from the election race.

Madagascar has been in political limbo since Mr Rajoelina, a former disc jockey and mayor of the capital Antananarivo, seized power from former president Marc Ravalomanana in 2009.

Mr Ravalomanana, a wealthy businessman, lives in exile in SA. According to an internationally brokered road map aimed at steering the island state back to constitutional rule, neither politician would take part in new elections. But when Mr Ravalomanana’s businesswoman wife, Lalao, announced she would run, Mr Rajoelina declared his candidacy as well.

Mr Rajoelina’s volte-face, which raised political and economic uncertainty on the island, was condemned by the AU, which said it would not recognise him as the country’s president even if he won the July poll.

Last Friday, ahead of the AU’s summit due to discuss developments in Madagascar, he said he would withdraw his candidacy if his rivals also did so. At the time Mr Rajoelina warned the country might be destabilised if he stepped down too soon before the election.

“Who can guarantee … that if I resign, there will be peace in the country?” he said. “I cannot accept a divide between Malagasy people and a civil war.” Sapa-AFP, Reuters