Presidential election: damning report from the Safidy Observatory

2023-11-20 08:19:07

The final results of the first round of the presidential election should be known on November 24. National and international observers invited by the authorities have submitted their first preliminary reports on the conduct of the November 16 vote, electoral observers have noted several irregularities.

In a press release published this weekend, the Safidy Observatory speaks of a calm election, without major incidents but with irregularities, organized in a tense electoral context, with a historically low participation rate. “For the first in the electoral history (of Madagascar), the date of the elections was postponed by a week and the participation rate in a presidential election has never been so low,” underlines Safidy.

“In comparison with the first round of the 2018 presidential election, Safidy noted a significant drop in the participation rate, from 53.9% in 2018 according to the official final results to 43.8% for this 2023 election in the basis of a sample of 2876 polling stations covered by the Observatory. In the province of Antananarivo, participation rates were low, particularly in the regions of Itasy (25%), Bongolava (27%), Vakinankaratra (32%) and Analamanga (35%), compared to high rates in the regions of Androy (61%), Vatovavy (59%) and Anosy (56%).

Safidy provides numerous explanations for this situation, such as “the deficit in voter confidence in the two electoral institutions (CENI and HCC), the refusal of the Candidates’ Collective to participate in the electoral process, the electoral environment under tension and the measures security with the presence of the police creating an intimidating climate as well as the population’s fed up with the political environment which does not bring anything positive on a daily basis.

The Safidy Observatory points out, among other things, “the non-recognition by the State of a post-electoral crisis and its refusal to dialogue despite mediation initiatives and requests for postponement of the election by several actors including the president of the ‘National Assembly, religious leaders, political parties, civil society organizations, unions, private sector and others’.

Following his observations, Safidy has already been labeled an opponent and dishonest by fanatics of the current regime and supporters of outgoing president Andry Rajoelina.