Politics

Madagascar’s election to proceed despite anti-Rajoelina protests

Published

6 months 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

Mozambique: Ruling FRELIMO announces Chapo as presidential candidate

Published

2 days ago

May 7, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Daniel Chapo has announced that he will run for president in the October election on behalf of the ruling FRELIMO party in Mozambique.

Since achieving independence in 1975, FRELIMO has ruled the nation in southern Africa, and the party is hoping that Chapo can lead it to another win in the election on October 9.

“The soap opera of speculation is over, including speculation about the third term,” President Filipe Nyusi said on state television on Sunday, dismissing the prospect of contesting elections again.

“We must all unite around comrade Daniel Francisco Chapo, in the demanding march towards electoral victory next October,” Nyusi said.

The president of Mozambique is limited to two terms of five years by the constitution. Nevertheless, following his reelection as party leader in 2022, there had been conjecture in the media that Nyusi may run for a third term.

Chapo, a relatively unknown person in national politics, is the governor of the province of Inhambane in southern Mozambique. As to the party announcement, he secured 225 votes (about 94%) from the central committee of the party.

“We are going to work with all social strata,” Chapo said on television after his win.

Chapo, a former radio host, was born in 1977, making him the first candidate for FRELIMO to be born since the nation gained its independence.

He has served in many governmental capacities, most notably as an administrator of the districts of Nacala and Palma. He also has a master’s degree in development management and a law degree.

Politics

Again, Rwanda denies it attacked displaced persons in DR Congo

Published

5 days ago

May 4, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

For the sixteenth time, Rwanda refuted US charges on Saturday that its troops attacked a camp for internally displaced persons in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), placing the blame instead on militants it claimed were backed by the military of the Congo.

The US State Department released a statement in which it vehemently denounced the incident that claimed at least nine lives on Friday.

There have been persistent accusations against Rwanda of providing support to the armed organizations, which has resulted in diplomatic tensions between the neighbours in East Africa.

Citing the threat that Rwanda’s surface-to-air missile systems posed to civilians, U.N. and other regional peacekeepers, aid workers, and commercial aircraft operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the US demanded in February that Rwanda remove its systems and all of its armed forces from the DRC immediately. Rwanda denies providing any assistance to the rebels.

According to the U.S. statement, the M23 rebel group, which Rwanda supports, and the Rwandan Defense Forces (RDF) held the positions from which the attack was launched. The United States is “gravely concerned about the recent RDF and M23 expansion” in eastern Congo.

Speaking on behalf of the Rwandan government, Yolande Makolo refuted claims that the RDF was responsible for the attack, blaming instead rebels backed by the Congolese military.

“The RDF, a professional army, would never attack an IDP (displaced persons). Look to the lawless FDLR and Wazalendo supported by the FARDC (Congolese military) for this kind of atrocity,” she said in a post on X.

Wazalendo is a Christian sect, while the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a Hutu organization that was founded by Hutu officials who left Rwanda after planning the 1994 genocide.

Thousands of people from the surrounding areas have fled to Goma in eastern Congo as a result of the M23 rebels’ two-year offensive, which has advanced toward the city in recent months.