FILE PHOTO: Madagascar Presidential candidate Andry Rajoelina salutes his supporters during a campaign rally at the Coliseum stadium in Antananarivo, Madagascar November 3, 2018. REUTERS/Malin Palm
December 27, 2018
By Lovasoa Rabary
ANTANANARIVO (Reuters) – Andry Rajoelina has been declared the winner of a runoff presidential election, according to full provisional results released on Thursday by the electoral commission.
The High Constitutional Court has nine days from Thursday to decide whether to confirm the provisional results. Rajoelina’s rival Marc Ravalomanana on Sunday alleged fraud.
Rajoelina won 55.66 percent of the vote compared to 44.34 percent for Ravalomanana and turnout was just over 48 percent, the commission said.
The two ex-presidents — Ravalomanana and the man who ousted him in a 2009 coup, Rajoelina — had previously said they would accept the results, raising hopes of a peaceful outcome and no repeat of the political chaos seen nearly a decade ago.
Rajoelina attended the commission’s results announcement on Thursday. Ravalomanana did not.
The Indian Ocean island nation has a population of around 25 million people and is among Africa’s poorest. About 80 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day.
(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Alison Williams)
