adminANTANANARIVO. — Madagascans return to polling stations today to choose a new president in a run-off vote aimed at ending a political and economic crisis sparked by a coup four years ago.
Proxy candidates for the ousted president and his usurper go head-to-head in the elections in a bid to restore democracy and foreign aid to the Indian Ocean island.
Medical doctor Robinson Jean Louis, who won the most votes in the first round two months ago, is the protege of deposed and exiled leader Marc Ravalomanana.
His rival, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, was finance minister for most of strongman Andry Rajoelina’s four years in power.
Electoral authorities barred the two main players from running in the vote, following pressure from the international community which feared a return to violence if the long-standing rivals participated. Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in a military-backed coup in 2009, and has governed unelected ever since.
Today’s polls also include a parliamentary vote to elect 151 lawmakers for a five-year term.
“The campaign has globally been peaceful. There hasn’t been violence, there haven’t been confrontations,” said political analyst Jean-Eric Rakotoarisoa.
There is no clear favourite.
“The outcome is uncertain as much for the presidential elections as the parliamentary ones,” said Rakotoarisoa.
The different candidates from Rajoelina’s camp together won over half the votes in the first round, but not all have endorsed Rajaonarimampianina.
“You sense a dynamic around Robinson Jean Louis’s candidacy, but then it’s not absolutely irresistible and enthusiastic,” said a European diplomat. — Sapa-AFP.
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