2023-11-20 08:48:54
Unanimously, the international electoral observers (SADC, COMESA and OIF) launched a call for dialogue involving all stakeholders and open to all the active forces of the nation during the presentation of their preliminary electoral observation reports in the country. They declared that they had observed and noted the calm and peaceful conduct of the first round of the presidential election on November 16 in the country, but the risk of a post-electoral political crisis is not excluded.
This statement joins that of the Collective of candidates and civil society organizations as well as associations which considered that the conditions were not met to hold this election peacefully. But the damage is done. After turning a deaf ear and closing their eyes, these electoral observers throw a stone into the sea and act as a doctor after death, through this call for dialogue.
Low turnout in the presidential vote is a major problem that observers have noted. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI), however, does not share this opinion; it affirms in its statements that this rate is not low.
The need to carry out a dialogue between the actors of Malagasy political life is however motivated by this low participation rate. This is the reason why the former president of the Swiss confederation, Micheline Calmy-Rey, special envoy of the secretary general of the Francophonie in Madagascar, said she was “concerned by the political and social situation” in the country, in particular because of a tendency towards the fragmentation of Malagasy society and ruptures within it on a political basis.
The OIF’s concern about the Malagasy situation lies in the question of stability and tranquility in the post-electoral period. She noted that in the electoral process in Madagascar, questions of inclusiveness were not there. Although SADC observers did not take into consideration the demands of opposition parties ahead of the presidential election, they said in their preliminary reports, presented on Saturday, that “the comments and concerns of opponents are relevant in view of the texts of the Constitution and the texts of Malagasy law.
The European Union remains largely absent during the observations of the election of November 16, in fact unlike the elections of 2013 and 2018, the electoral observation mission of the European Union (EU) was replaced by a mission of experts, with a reduced staff. The lack of progress in the implementation of the recommendations made by electoral observers following the 2018 presidential election, such as improving the legal framework for elections, or even capping and more rigor in the traceability of fundraising funds. campaign motivated this EU decision. Furthermore, the State only launched the call for the deployment of national and international electoral observers in February 2023, a late invitation, announced last July Isabelle Delattre Burger, ambassador of the EU delegation.
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