2023-08-14 06:00:00
Andry Rajoelina will go to the Vatican and meet Pope Francis on August 17. The Malagasy Head of State officially announced it during his trip to Antsiranana last weekend. It will be an official visit during which he will be accompanied by his wife Mialy Rajoelina.
If the question of diplomacy is announced as the priority of this visit, the personal nature of it is undeniable. Its holding on the eve of the presidential election suggests that the President of the Republic is going there in particular to ask for the blessing of the Sovereign Pontiff, before he resigns from his post of President of the Republic to devote himself to the race for his own succession.
The Constitution requires the president to resign 60 days before election day if he is running for his own succession. This date corresponds to September 10, since the first round of the presidential election will take place on November 9.
The Head of State had to change his program to be able to go to Rome. Planned trips to the provinces were either postponed or canceled such as the inauguration of the RN9, linking Analamisampy Bevoay and Manja. The president was also due to travel to Toliara on August 18, the day the Island Games flame arrived in the city, where a series of inaugurations were planned.
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