Madagascar: Rajoelina denounces a crisis “created from scratch”

The outgoing president of Madagascar and candidate for his re-election on November 9, Andry Rajoelina, denounced Sunday evening the actions of 11 opposition candidates whom he accuses of " creating from scratch" a new political crisis.

Malagasy people go to the polls on November 9 to choose their president and governors. The pre-election climate has deteriorated significantly in recent weeks.

The Malagasy opposition denounced on September 12 "an institutional coup d'état" orchestrated by the camp of President Rajoelina, after the Prime Minister, a close friend of the head of state, was responsible for acting in the interim for the election period.

"Some candidates are not ready. They are asking for a transition ," declared Mr. Rajoelina, 49, in a televised address broadcast on several channels on Sunday evening.

"There is no crisis in Madagascar. It is a crisis created from scratch. If the candidates loved the homeland, they would not act like this in the run-up to the election. It is not 10 or 11 people who will prevent the population from exercising their right to vote, he added.

Thirteen candidates are in the running for the presidential election on November 9, including Mr. Rajoelina, 49, who came to power in 2009 following a mutiny that ousted former president Marc Ravalomanan , also a candidate in the election. of November.

Banned from running by the international community in 2013, Andry Rajoelina was elected in 2018. “There are people who want to foment unrest in the country ,” he warned in his speech on Sunday evening.

"There are people who want to burn down infrastructure, including City Hall. We do not accept that. I call on the population to protect common property and not to accept the unrest that people want to foment in the country ,” he said.

Eleven of the 13 presidential candidates called for a public rally - "to make our voices heard" - Monday morning on the Place du 13 Mai in Antananarivo, known for having been the scene of all the political protests on the Big Island of 'Indian Ocean.

It was on this square that in 2009, Mr. Rajoelina, then mayor of the capital, increased the number of weekly rallies against the power of Mr. Ravalomanana, which led to a mutiny and the departure of the latter.