Madagascar holds presidential election [The Morning Call]

Voting has begun in Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island. Nearly 10 million eligible voters are to choose from 36 candidates contesting to be president of the large indian ocean island nation. They include four former presidents, three former prime ministers, a pastor and a rock star.

But the real choice is between three ex-presidents who are front-runners in this election – Hery Rajaonarimampianina, Marc Ravalomanana and Andry Rajoelina. Voting has started already and while we are monitoring how that is going, let us quickly bring you some quick facts about the country.

With a land size of around 587,000 square kilometres, Madagascar is home to about 25 million people. Its national language is Malagasy and the island nation is the world’s largest producer of Vanilla.

@jerrybambi1