Africa Madagascar Government Leaders Say They Will Reject Recount

VOA News 26.04.2002

Senior Madagascar government officials who support President Didier Ratsiraka say they will reject any ballot recount by the High Constitutional Court in a bid to end the dispute over last December's presidential election.

The Ratsiraka loyalists said Friday they consider the High Constitutional Court court an illegal institution because judges appointed to it by President Ratsiraka just before the election were disqualified by the Supreme Court.

The High Constitutional Court began the recount under an agreement brokered last week by African leaders meeting in Senegal. Recount results are expected Monday.

But the governor of Madagascar's southern Tulear province, Jean de Dieu Maharante, says the recount should be done by an independent body with representatives from both sides and in the presence of an international monitor. Mr. Maharante says his view is shared by four of the country's five other provincial governors.

Under the agreement reached in Senegal, if neither party emerges a clear victor after the recount, a new election will be held within six months. President Ratsiraka and opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana both claim the presidency. Mr. Ravalomanana says last December's election was rigged and that he won outright. Madagascar has been in turmoil since since Mr. Ravalomanana, mayor of the capital, Antananarivo, declared himself president on February 22. At least 32 people have been killed in violence related to the dispute.