Madagascar‘s President Andry Rajoelina has effectively secured a third term after the electoral body (CENI) said he had obtained the most votes in an hashtag #election marked by low turnout and an opposition boycott.
Provisional results announced on Saturday by CENI at the end of tallying showed Rajoelina garnered 58.9 percent of the vote followed by Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, a lawmaker, who got 14.4 percent. The country’s High Constitutional Court is mandated to announce final results within nine days after the poll body declares provisional results.
“The Malagasy people have chosen the path of continuity, serenity and stability,” Rajoelina, a 49-year-old hashtag#entrepreneur and former DJ, said after the results were announced.
“I thank the hashtag#Malagasy people who now refuse to choose the wrong path, who no longer accept to take the path of unrest. Democracy is exercised through elections and not in the streets or through unrest.”
But Randrianasoloniaiko told the AFP news agency on Saturday he had appealed to the country’s apex court to demand the cancellation of the vote result.