Despite the call for a boycott by 10 out of 13 candidates, a presidential election is underway

During his vote, Andry Rajoelina, 49, candidate for his own succession, again denounced the call for a boycott of the ten candidates which for months has denounced a non-compliant electoral process. Some observers speak of pre-filled ballots and purchased voters. Andry Rajoelina faced a thousand storms to impose this election and above all to control it according to his opponents. “They are afraid of transparency in their management for five years and that their corrupt and mafia-like practice will come to light”denounces the spokesperson for the collective of ten opponents.

If we stick to the text of the Malagasy Constitution, it is the President of the Senate who must act in the interim as soon as the Head of State decides to run again. However, Andry Rajoelina, with the approval of a court of law, preferred to install one of his close friends, the Prime Minister, who methodically swept aside all attempts to challenge the electoral process. In particular, he limited the expression of the opposition by banning open-air political meetings and he also rejected, at the beginning of October, the mediation proposed by the Ecumenical Council of Christian Churches of Madagascar to try to ease tensions. Finally, the United Nations accuses him of “disproportionate use of force”to disperse peaceful demonstrations demanding a postponement of the election.

The opposition is not the only one to denounce irregularities in the electoral process. At the beginning of November, the NGO Transparency International claimed to have uncovered a system of electoral corruption. Indeed, the president’s campaign team relied on registration lists to target a food distribution operation, in one of the poorest countries in the world, where 70% of families are in dire circumstances. food insecurity.

A Malagasy but also French president

The biggest scandal broke last June when the opposition discovered that French nationality had been granted in 2014 to President Andry Rajoelina. The problem is that Malagasy law does not allow dual nationality and the Constitution strictly prohibits a foreign candidate from running for office. Which means, not only that the outgoing president could not run, but that his election in 2018 was also not in accordance with the Constitution.

Faced with the autocratic drift of Andry Rajoelina, the opposition collective, in despair, even ended up writing a letter to French parliamentarians launching an appeal to “duty to interfere to prevent conflict.” A situation far too toxic for France to choose not to remain silent.