Madagascar braces for election campaigns

Election campaigns for the presidential runoff in December will begin on Friday in Madagascar to field the two competitors Jean Louis Robinson and Hery Rajaonarimampianina. Robinson, candidate supported by former president Marc Ravalomanana, will kick off his campaign in Arivonimamo, 47 km west of Madagascar's capital Antananarivo, while Rajaonarimampianina, who enjoys the backing of Transitional President Andry Rajoelina, has chosen his first station in Vohibato, around 400 km south of here. According to the Independent National Election Commission (CENIT), the campaign will last for 21 days and the 7.8 million voters will go again to the polls on Dec. 20. The final results published on Nov. 22 by the Special Electoral Court (CES) showed that Robinson took the lead with 21.16 percent of the votes and Rajaonarimampianina followed with 15.85 percent of the tally in the first round of elections held on Oct. 25. A total of 33 candidates participated in the first round, but none won 50 percent of votes. The presidential election runoff will be coupled with legislative elections, for which 2,052 candidates will also launch 21-day campaigns on Friday.