Madagascar election: Rajoelina takes early lead

Madagascar's incumbent president Andrey Rajoelina is leading last Thursday's election, with currently 62.4% of the vote.

He is trailed by Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko at 12.2% and ousted ex-president Marc Ravalomanana at 11.2%.

The country's electoral commission said turnout was only 43% with some opposition candidates attributing the low participation to their calls to boycott the election.

10 of the 12 opposition candidates boycotted over concerns about the vote's integrity.

In June, Madagascar was rocked by the revelation that the president had acquired French citizenship in 2014, which the opposition argues should result in the loss of his Madagascan nationality and disqualify him from running in the race.

Rajoelina, who is running for a third term, says the accusation is a baseless political tactic. He has argued that the constitution does not require the head of state to exclusively hold Malagasy nationality, and that the government would have to authorise his loss of nationality.

Ahead of the vote, opposition protesters held demonstrations and clashed with police.