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The Malagasy opposition has denounced “an institutional coup d’état” orchestrated by President Rajoelina, after a series of court decisions which, according to it, favor the head of state candidate for re-election in less than two months
The Malagasy opposition has denounced an institutional coup d’état orchestrated by President Rajoelina, after a series of court decisions which, according to it, favor the head of state candidate for re-election in less than two months.
Ten candidates in the presidential election accused the head of state of manipulating institutions to favor his election to a second term as the head of the Great Ocean Island Indian. Malagasy will go to the polls for the first round of voting on November 9. The second is scheduled for December 20. Thirteen candidates are in the running, including Andry Rajoelina, 49, who came to power in 2009.
In recent days, a series of decisions from the Constitutional Court, the country’s highest court, have, according to the opposition, deliberately cleared the outgoing president’s horizon for the vote. Rajoelina ceased to exercise power, as provided for by the Constitution during the electoral period. The President of the Senate, who was to act in the interim, however, cited personal reasons and left the reins to a collegial government led by the Prime Minister, Christian Ntsay , close to the head of state. The Constitutional Court has validated those changes, the opposition parties alleged.
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The Court also rejected on the same day three appeals demanding that Rajoelina’s candidacy be declared invalid for lack of Malagasy nationality. The decision published deemed the requests, filed in September by three opposition parties, inadmissible.
At the end of June, information leaked to the press revealed that the president was naturalized French on the sly in 2014, triggering a controversy in the country. According to the Malagasy nationality code, he would then be supposed to lose his Malagasy nationality. Without this nationality, he can neither lead the country nor be a candidate for an election.
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The Malagasy Constitution provides that the current president, a candidate for his own succession, resigns from his post 60 days before the date of the election and that the President of the Senate takes over in the interim. But no provision is made in the event of the latter’s ref
