Madagascar will hold a presidential election on November 7, the Prime Minister said yesterday, after street protests and a political crisis that forced the appointment of a caretaker government. If no candidate wins an outright majority, a second round of voting will be held on December 19, added Prime Minister Christian Ntsay. The Indian Ocean island nation has been in the grip of a growing stand-off over proposed electoral reforms that triggered mass protests and led the Constitutional Court to order a caretaker government to organise the ballot.
Demonstrators took to the capital Antananarivo’s central square over President Hery Rajaonarimampianina’s efforts to change electoral laws that opponents said were intended to favour his party.
The proposals were overturned by the courts. But the protests morphed into a full-blown movement to oust Rajaonarimampianina. Clashes between activists and the security forces claimed two lives and left more than a dozen injured.
Full Article: Madagascar to hold presidential vote in November amid crisis | Borneo Bulletin Online.
