Politics

Madagascar’s election to proceed despite anti-Rajoelina protests

Published

1 year ago

November 13, 2023

Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, will seek re-election on Thursday despite protests about his alleged ineligibility championed by opposition groups.

The Electoral Body confirmed on Monday that the election would go ahead on Thursday for the first-round ballot, just days after the leader of the lower house of parliament, a member of the president’s party, called for the vote to be suspended as the conditions were not right.

There are thirteen contenders in the presidential race, three of whom include the wealthiest man on the island, Rajoelina and two other former presidents, Marc Ravalomanana and Hery Rajaonarimampianina, who all have long-standing rivalries that have been reignited by the contest.

Ravalomanana and Rajaonarimampianina are two of the ten rival candidates who have expressed a desire to postpone the vote.

Opposing candidates have also demanded the establishment of a special court to hear cases involving votes and the appointment of new officials to lead the electoral commission.

Rajoelina’s political opponents have been holding regular protests for the past six weeks, and they claim that Rajoelina should be disqualified because he obtained French nationality in 2014. The protestors have been dispersed by police using tear gas. However, Rajoelina argues that the head of state is not required by the constitution to be solely of Malagasy nationality.

At a campaign rally on Sunday in the capital, Antananarivo, he urged supporters to vote,9008 and dismissed the opposition’s calls for delays as a political tactic.

“The Malagasy people do not want any more destabilisation. We don’t want another crisis,” he told thousands of supporters who were wearing the orange colours of his political party, Young Malagasy People Ready.

Last month, the United Nations alleged that the human rights office of Malagasy security forces had used “unnecessary and disproportionate force” against peaceful protesters and called for respect for freedom of expression and assembly, but the government claims it only adopted minimum force to maintain order.

With reserves of gold, nickel, and cobalt, a population of about 30 million—only 11 million voters—registered for the election. A two-round method is used to elect the president of Madagascar; if no candidate obtains a majority of the vote in the first round, a run-off election will be held.

Related Topics:Elections Featured Madagasca

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Politics

Mali’s junta names spokesman Abdoulaye Maiga new Prime Minister

Published

2 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A day after dismissing Choguel Maiga for criticising the government, Mali’s governing junta named its spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, as Prime Minister on Thursday, according to state broadcaster, ORTM.

A source close to Choguel Maiga told Reuters that the ruling generals were incensed by Maiga’s remarks over the weekend denouncing the junta’s inability to hold elections within the 24-month timeframe given for the return to democracy.

After promising to hold elections in February, the military authorities, who took control in two separate coups in 2020 and 2021, have put off the poll indefinitely, citing technological difficulties.

Choguel Maiga’s firing coincides with indications of growing discontent and disarray among Mali politicians, even those who first supported the coup and collaborated with the junta.

As the wait for elections continues, Choguel Maiga, a civilian prime minister who was installed by the military junta in 2021, is the most recent to lose support.

He was cited on Saturday as claiming he learnt of the junta’s decision via the media and that there had been no discussion regarding the delay of the elections inside the cabinet.

“It’s all happening in total secrecy, without the prime minister’s knowledge,” Choguel Maiga told reporters.

Before then, he had frequently stood up for Mali’s junta against criticism from foreign friends and neighbours in West Africa who denounced its repeated election delays and military collaboration with Russian mercenaries.

As government spokesperson, Abdoulaye Maiga, the new prime minister, has also made strong public remarks against France, the previous colonial master. One such speech was demanding French President Emmanuel Macron to stop his “neocolonial” and “condescending” behaviour.

Abdoulaye Maiga and Assimi Goita, the leaders of the junta, announced they had kept all of the important cabinet ministers in their portfolios in the new administration in a statement that was broadcast on state television ORTM.

The announcement said that Abdoulaye Maiga will remain minister of territory administration.

Politics

Congo opposition mobilizes protests against constitution review

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In response to President Felix Tshisekedi’s intentions to amend the constitution, opposition lawmakers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have called for national protests on Wednesday.

Tshisekedi, who was sworn in for his second and last term in January, said that a panel would be formed in October to recommend possible constitutional amendments.

According to critics, it may be a ploy to lift term restrictions and give him another chance to run.

Tshisekedi said the current constitution, ratified by a referendum in 2005, needed to change because it did not align with the country’s current realities.

Opposition politicians, including former president Joseph Kabila and past presidential candidates Martin Fayulu and Moise Katumbi, issued a unified statement on Wednesday urging rallies to “block” Tshisekedi.

A request for a response from the Congo’s presidency was not answered.

Patrick Muyaya, the minister of communications, stated on Monday that discussions surrounding the constitutional revision should be de-politicized and that no one should doubt the president’s intentions.

“We’re at the beginning of our mandate… The President of the Republic still has four years to go, and we must avoid attributing intentions to him,” Muyaya told reporters.