Former leader wins in Malagasy elections

ANTANANARIVO - Madagascar's former president Andry Rajoelina has beaten his rival and predecessor Marc Ravalomanana in the election, the electoral commission said on Thursday.

Rajoelina has returned to power after he won 55.66 percent against 44.34 percent for Ravalomanana in the runoff 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.

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

"The country no longer needs trouble," said Rajoelina. He also dismissed the notion that there had been fraud: "We do not cheat, we do not know how to cheat."

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

European Union election observers have said they had not seen evidence of wrongdoing in the vote in which about 5 million ballots were cast.

The two adversaries came a close first and second in the preliminary election in November, with Rajoelina garnering 39 percent compared with 35 percent for Ravalomanana.

Outgoing president Hery Rajaonarimampianina was eliminated in the first round after winning only nine percent.

Just 48.09 percent of the eligible 10 million voters cast their votes in the runoff, slightly lower than in the 55 percent in the first round.

Madagascar is well known for its vanilla and precious redwood, yet is one of the world's poorest nations, according to World Bank data, with 76 percent of people living in extreme poverty.

Afp - Reuters

(China Daily 12/29/2018 page8)