Presidential elections were held in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...

on 7 November. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a second round involving the top two candidates,

Andry Rajoelina Andry Nirina Rajoelina (Malagasy: ; born 30 May 1974) is a Malagasy politician and businessman who has been the president of Madagascar since 2019. He was previously president of a provisional government from 2009 to 2014 following a politic ...

and

Marc Ravalomanana Marc Ravalomanana (; born 12 December 1949) is a Malagasy politician who was the President of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. Born into a farming Merina family in Imerinkasinina, near the capital city of Antananarivo, Ravalomanana first rose to ...

, was held on 19 December. On 27 December Rajoelina was announced as the winner with 56% of the vote.

Electoral system

The President of Madagascar is elected using the

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off will be held.

Candidates

Former President

, who resigned following a

political crisis Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studie ...

in 2009, announced that he would run again for the presidency. His successor,

, also announced his intention to contest the elections.Madagascar: élection présidentielle les 24 novembre et 24 décembre 2018 (ministre)
TV4 Monde, 3 March 2018 Incumbent Hery Rajaonarimampianina unsuccessfully sought to block Ravaolmanana and Rajoelina from running on grounds that they had participated in the 2009 coup d'état. In September 2018, Rajaonarimampianina stepped down to run for reelection, allowing a caretaker government to administer the vote, in accordance with the constitution. There were a record 36 candidates in the race (surpassing the previous record of 33), including four of the five most recent

presidents President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

. However, only five candidates were women, seen by some of illustrating the historic patriarchal dominance of Malagasy politics and culture.

Campaign

Despite the majority of Malagasy people living in poverty, the elections are expected to be one of the most expensive per capita in 2018. The top three candidates; Hery Rajaonarimampianina,

, and

are at a significant financial advantage over the other contenders, with candidate Ny Rado Rafalimanana complaining that due to financial constraints it was impossible for any other candidate to compete with the top three, as there are no campaign finance limits. Some election observers believe that the winner of the election will have more to do with that candidate's financial power and influence than their political positions. The lavish spending on the election has also been criticized due to the large amount of poverty in the country, with many believing the money could be better spent elsewhere. Although two-thirds of the population is under 25, turnout and interest among young people is low.

Results

References

{{Malagasy elections

Presidential elections in Madagascar Presidential