Madagascar postpones presidential election again

[Punch]

Madagascar postponed a presidential election, the government said on Thursday, further delaying a vote that the president promised to hold shortly after seizing power in 2009, Reuters reports.

The decision to put the vote back a month to Aug. 23 came after the electoral commission said it could not hold the ballot because foreign donors had suspended financing due to President Andry Rajoelina's volte-face on a promise not to run.

Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, the man he unseated from power, both bowed to regional pressure in January and agreed not to run in the election. The African Union said it would not recognise either as president if they won.

But Rajoelina said in May the deal was broken when Ravalomanana's wife, Lalao, said she would run.

Ravalomanana's allies said they wanted the election to go ahead as scheduled.

"But some people always find a way to upset the election calendar in order to prolong the situation for their own benefit," said Senate Vice President Hanitra Razafimanantsoa, a Ravalomanana supporter.

She did not say whether Lalao Ravalomanana should drop her plan to run for president.



The Punch

[Folami David]

The postponement is already getting annoying I must confess. Things have to really change in that country.