Vol 55 No 3 | MADAGASCAR Hery must make his mark 5th February 2014 The country is back in the international fold but the new President needs to distance himself from his predecessor At last the island has a new President, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, elected on 20 December with 53.5% of the vote on a 50% turnout (AC Vol 55 No 2, Coup legacy lingers). The leader ...
Vol 55 No 2 | MADAGASCAR Coup legacy lingers 24th January 2014 Everyone hoped the elections would heal divisions and allow the country to move on but it may not be that simple The final election victory of Hery Rajaonarimampianina is unlikely to provide Madagascar with the healing new start that everyone had hoped for. The chronic instability since the M...
Vol 54 No 23 | MADAGASCAR Election outcome still in the balance 4th November 2013 The difficult part is now over and polling passed off without major incident, although a second round of voting may be needed to decide the ultimate winner Four-and-a-half years of transition finally came to a peaceful conclusion on 25 October when Malagasies went to the polls for the first round of the presidential elections. After p...
Vol 54 No 20 | MADAGASCAR No princes on the ballot 30th September 2013 Public enthusiasm for the election is running high but questions about the electoral register and campaign finance may undermine its legitimacy The official start of the presidential election campaign on 24 September has triggered an immediate flurry of activism, even if many Malagasies don’t really believe the long-...
Vol 54 No 18 | MADAGASCAR Merry-go-rounds 6th September 2013 The date has been set for the first round of the long-awaited presidential election: 25 October. A second round, if needed, and the parliamentary polls follow on 20 December. The n...
Vol 54 No 17 | MADAGASCAR Rajoelina fends off sanctions with new election law 9th August 2013 Announcing a restructuring of the electoral court and allowing newspapers to hint that he may opt out of the presidential race, Rajoelina has outwitted his rivals and international monitors The drums were rolling ahead of 31 July, the deadline set by international organisations for Andry Rajoelina, President of the Haute Autorité de la Transition, to organise c...
Vol 54 No 16 | MADAGASCAR Crisis grows as presidential elections delayed again 25th July 2013 Coup leader Rajoelina's insistence that he must be a candidate has thrown preparations for the presidential elections into chaos Political tensions and street clashes have been increasing ahead of the 31 July deadline set by the Groupe internationale de contact sur Madagascar (GIC-M), which has set key condi...
Vol 54 No 11 | MADAGASCAR Three too many 24th May 2013 Three familiar names pop up again on the list of presidential hopefuls When the Cour spéciale électorale (CES, Special Electoral Court) announced on 3 May the final list of candidates for the presidential poll on 24 July, the number had at least falle...
Vol 54 No 6 | MADAGASCAR Secrecy mars ballot deal 15th March 2013 Confusion surrounds when, or even if, elections can be held this year but nobody doubts that the public yearns for an end to the political vacuum Malagasy have been waiting a long time to have their electoral say but on 5 February, the electoral commission postponed the long-awaited presidential election from 8 May to 24 Jul...
Vol 6 (AAC) No 8 | MADAGASCARSOUTH KOREA Seoul food 31st May 2013 South Korean diplomats are working to help Daewoo Logistics regain at least part of a huge land-lease deal the company lost after Madagascar's 2009 coup d'état. In May, Seoul dispa...