Andry Rajoelina Posts Victory In Madagascar Presidential Election 2018

Madagascar’s electoral commission, on Thursday, declared former Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina as the winner of the second round of Presidential elections. The voting results published by INEC showed Rajoelina garnered 55.66 percent of the vote, compared with 44.34 percent for rival Marc Ravalomanana, reported BBC.

Notably, during the first round of the election, Rajoelina got 39 percent of the votes and Ravalomanana got 35 percent of the votes.

Meanwhile, Rajoelina 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,” Rajoelina said adding “What matters is that the people of Madagascar were able to express themselves freely.”

He applauded the people of Madagascar for choosing a wise and unifying leader.

“My message is simple, the people of Madagascar no longer need a crisis, they need a wise, unifying leader,” Rajoelina said.

While both Rajoelina and Ravalomanana had previously promised to accept the election result, the latter has made allegations of what he calls massive fraud. He also skipped the electoral commission’s results announcement, made amid high security in the capital Antananarivo.

Hery Rakotomanana, the electoral commission chief, said efforts are being made to respond to concerns raised by both candidates, which included a review of the counting software.

The constitutional court now has nine days to confirm the commission’s results.

Rajoelina and Ravalomanana were both elected as the President of Madagascar in the past. Ravalomanana remained in the post from 2002 to 2009. After reigning for seven years, he was forced to step down due to massive violent demonstrations supported by Rajoelina, who was the mayor of the capital Antananarivo during that time. Rajoelina was installed as the President after the massive protests, and he ruled until 2014.