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 Africa ...
on 3 December 2006. President
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 ...
, in office since he prevailed in a dispute over election results in 2002, ran for re-election. On 9 December, Ravalomanana was declared to have won in the first round with about 55 percent of the vote."Madagascar's president wins election" , Associated Press (''International Herald Tribune''), December 9, 2006.
Background
In May, the date of the election was moved forward to December 3, several weeks earlier than had previously been expected. The reason given was that the earlier date could avoid having the election affected by bad weather during the rainy season; the constitutional court approved the new date, saying that it did not violate the constitution. The constitution says an election should be held between 30 and 60 days before the end of a president's mandate. Many of the opposition candidates did not like the earlier date and wanted the election to be postponed;"Presidential hopefuls put their names forward" AFP (''IOL''), October 16, 2006. they said that the constitution required that the election not be held before December 25.
BBC News Online
BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...
'', December 1, 2006. but he was barred from participation; he was not allowed to enter the country (on one occasion the airport at the eastern city of
Toamasina
Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...
was closed to keep him out, and when he tried again to enter the country he was not allowed aboard a plane in nearby
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
),"Hoping for fair, transparent, uncontroversial elections" '' IRIN'', November 15, 2006. and his registration papers, which he could not sign because he was not allowed into the country, were rejected because he had not signed them himself. During his exile, Rajaonarivelo was convicted of misuse of funds, and he could be arrested if he returns to Madagascar. Fourteen other presidential candidates were approved on October 18, while three others were rejected for not paying a required deposit.
Aside from Ravalomanana, presidential candidates included former deputy prime minister
Norbert Ratsirahonana
Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana (born November 18, 1938) is a Malagasy politician.
Life and career
He was born in Antsiranana, Diana Region He founded and led the '' Asa Vita no Ifampitsarana'' (Judged By Your Work) Party, which opposed President Di ...
,
Roland Ratsiraka
Iarovana Roland Ratsiraka (born August 15, 1966) is a Malagasy politician.
In 1966 he was born in Antananarivo. Roland is the nephew of former President Didier Ratsiraka. He studied both in Madagascar and in France, before founding several comp ...
, nephew of former president
Didier Ratsiraka
Didier Ignace Ratsiraka (; 4 November 1936 – 28 March 2021) was a Malagasy people, Malagasy politician and Madagascar Navy, naval officer who was President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002. At the time of his death, he was ...
, who was Speaker of the National Assembly from 2003 until earlier in 2006. One woman also ran for president,
Elia Ravelomanantsoa
Elia Ravelomanantsoa (born 1960) is a Malagasy politician and the director of Synergy-FCB.
Born in Antananarivo, Ravelomanantsoa set herself up in business at the age of seventeen. She founded the Manja festival of fashion in 1986. From 1990 u ...
.
In mid-November, retired general
Andrianafidisoa
Andrianafidisoa, popularly known as Fidy (died 6 October 2021), was a military general of the Army of Madagascar and a Director of the National Mines and Strategic Industries Office (OMNIS)."Eight presidential candidates offer support to renegade ...
, commonly known as Fidy, whose candidacy had been rejected for failing to pay the deposit, had leaflets distributed announcing a military takeover; describing Ravalomanana's government as unconstitutional, he called for the military to support him. This led to a clash at a military base in which one soldier was reported killed, and Ravalomanana's plane, carrying him back to Madagascar, had to be diverted from the capital,
Antananarivo
Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...
, to another part of the country."Retired Madagascar army general calls for military support against president" Associated Press (''International Herald Tribune''), November 18, 2006."Attempted "coup" fizzles in desire for peaceful poll" IRIN, November 20, 2006. Subsequently the situation was described as calm and without any sign of a military takeover. A warrant for Fidy's arrest was issued, and Fidy subsequently denied that there had been a coup attempt, calling that a misinterpretation. On November 22, Fidy received the backing of most of the presidential candidates, who said he was defending the constitution and the interests of the nation. A few days after the election, the government unsuccessfully attempted to arrest one of the candidates who backed Fidy,
Fianarantsoa
Fianarantsoa is a city (commune urbaine) in south central Madagascar, and is the capital of Haute Matsiatra Region.
History
It was built in the early 19th century by the Merina as the administrative capital for the newly conquered Betsileo king ...
."Madagascar tries to arrest opposition politician, offers bounty for attempted coup leader" Associated Press (''International Herald Tribune''), December 7, 2006. The government denied that this was because of his support for Fidy and accused him of other crimes, including holding an illegal gathering the day before the election, after the end of campaigning. Fidy was captured on December 12; Rakotoniaina was not captured until July 2007.
Results
Results from the capital
Antananarivo
Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...
, Ravalomanana's main support base, were reported first, and they showed Ravalomanana with 70.1 percent of the vote. Challengers Norbert Ratsirahonana and Herizo Razafimahaleo had 10.69 percent and 7.4 percent of the vote respectively; Roland Ratsiraka had about 5 percent. Subsequent results from almost 14 percent of polling stations gave Ravalomanana 65.6 percent; Ratsiraka held second place with 8.8 percent while Razafimahaleo had 7.15 percent and Ratsirahonana had 6.99 percent. Results from 77 percent of polling stations showed Ravalomanana with 56.6 percent of the vote and Ratsiraka in second place with 10.4 percent. On December 8, with votes counted from 82 percent of polling stations, counting was temporarily suspended due to electrical power problems. On December 9, with votes counted from 96 percent of polling stations, Ravalomanana had 55.1 percent of the vote and was declared the winner. Jean Lahiniriko was in second place with 11.4 percent.
Ballot papers for the candidates
Monja Roindefo
Monja Roindefo Zafitsimivalo (born 1965) is a Malagasy politician who was Prime Minister of Madagascar from March 2009 to October 2009. He was appointed on 7 February 2009 by opposition leader Andry Rajoelina at the head of Rajoelina's rival gove ...
,
Philippe Tsiranana Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to:
* Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present)
* Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer
* Prince Philippe, Count o ...
,
Ferdinand Razakarimanana
Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...
, and
Manandafy Rakotonirina
Manandafy Rakotonirina (30 October 1938 - 15 March 2019 .Official results from the Madagascar Interior Ministry (in French) ."Madagascar leader is re-elected" BBC News, 10 December 2006."Ravalomanana likely to win presidential election" , IRIN, December 11, 2006. 10.09 percent for Roland Ratsiraka, and 9.05 percent for Razafimahaleo. The figures still needed to be confirmed by the Constitutional High Court to be official. Lahiniriko's campaign director called the results false and said that Ravalomanana had only won about 49 percent; both Lahiniriko and Ratsiraka said that they were challenging the official results in court.
On December 23, the Constitutional High Court confirmed that Ravalomanana won the election with 54.8 percent of the vote. The final official results gave Lahiniriko 11.65 percent and Ratsiraka 10.14 percent."Madagascar confirms poll result" BBC News, December 23, 2006. Ravalomanana was sworn in for his second term on January 19, 2007. , Xinhua, January 19, 2007.
References
{{Malagasy elections
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 Africa ...
Presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
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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 Africa ...