Madagascar: A Democracy Faltering? By: Nicholas Evers

            In 2009, Andy Rajoelina forcibly took power from the elected president, Marc Ravalomanana, during a period of political unrest by means of a military coup.[1] Following the coup, Malagasy politics experienced numerous human rights violations as well as a lack of political freedom.[2] Along with these blatant violations, Rajoelina went as far as exiling the former president, burning down his factories, and having the government shut down the rest of his businesses.[3] These blatant violations of human rights and international law led the African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the United States to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions on the country.[4] These sanctions eventually forced Rajoelina to relinquish control of the government and return to democratic elections.[5] Following the return to democracy, these groups and countries lifted their sanctions, but the return to democracy has not been a smooth process.[6]

            In an effort to promote a fair election, both Rajoelina and Ravalomanana initially agreed to a plan put forth by the SADC.[7] This plan stated that neither former president would run for reelection in 2013, but Rajoelina went back on his promise and decided to seek reelection anyways.[8] Although this agreement did not hold, the country’s electoral court ruled that neither could run for the presidency.[9] Despite being barred from the presidency for the term, Rajoelina led an impeachment campaign for the president that was elected.[10] This campaign was successful, but the High Constitutional Court ruled that the impeachment was not valid.[11] After his opposition of the new president, Rajoelina decided to once again seek the presidency in 2018.[12] Rajoelina won the election, but there were several allegations of voter fraud and other irregularities during the election.[13] The fraud that was alleged included vote buying and bribery.[14]

Despite the reports of fraud and irregularities in the election, the Constitutional High Court held that the election results were valid and Rajoelina was able to assume power in a relatively peaceful manner.[15] The peaceful transfer of power was likely due to Ravalomanana’s concession and willingness to accept the ruling of the Constitutional High Court and not because Rajoelina won the election fair and square.[16]

Despite the ruling by the Constitutional High Court, there was likely some form of impropriety during the election.[17] Despite this, the election was also approved by the international community.[18] This seems to be setting a low standard for what constitutes a fair election and will likely set a precedent that will encourage Rajoelina to undergo the same process in the future.[19] This pattern continued in the most recent election, 2023.[20] When Rajoelina stepped down as president in order to run again, he replaced himself and the senate president with his political allies.[21] This was challenged by opposing candidates as an unjust transfer of power but nothing changed during the course of the election.[22] Once again, there are reports of an unfair election that is set up to favor Rajoelina, and when the opposing candidates protested this, their protests were forcibly dispersed by the military and police.[23] Along with this, the military openly declared its support of Malagasy institutions, which was seen as support for Rajoelina.[24] This had an undue influence over the voters and opposing candidates due to the recent military coup.[25] These injustices led almost all of the opposing candidates to boycott the election, and in turn led to unsurprising reelection of Rajoelina.[26] This victory comes with surprisingly low voter turnout.[27] Of the 11 million citizens registered to vote, 60% of them did not show up to the polls come election day.[28]

The last three elections in Madagascar have been peaceful, but there have been reports of voter fraud and unfair election practices in all three elections.[29] This has led several countries to make statements and commitments urging for the government to uphold democratic processes and fairness.[30] Both the United Nations and the United Kingdom issued statements urging for the peaceful transition of power and fair elections.[31] Along with this, the United States pledged $900,000 to help bolster the power of the election committee, increase education of democratic principles, and encourage participation.[32] This support is likely a good start to ensuring the democratic process in future elections, but the international community will need to do more in the future if it wants to see continued improvement in the political landscape of Madagascar.[33]

Some would argue that the international community needs to raise its standards on what qualifies as a fair and free election, and in not doing this, it only encourages governments to do the bare minimum to pass international standards while they still attempt to rig elections.[34] Along with this, the international community should impose higher standards and attempt to hold a country accountable when its election falls short of the standard.[35] If this does not change, then there will likely be more election corruption in the future, and in the worst case scenario, a complete dissolution of the democratic process is some countries.[36]

[1] Madagascar, Bureau of Democracy, Hum. Rts., and Lab. (May, 2009), https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/afdr/2009/af/122835.htm#:~:text=In%20March%202009%20former%20mayor,Ravalomanana%20through%20a%20military%20coup.

[2] Id.

[3] Brian Klaas, Labeling Elections ‘Good Enough’ Lets African Leaders Get Away With Fraud, Foreign Pol’y (Feb. 14, 2019), https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/14/labeling-elections-good-enough-lets-african-leaders-get-away-with-fraud-madagascar-election-coup-rajoelina-ravalomanana/.

[4] Malagasy Republic/Madagascar (1960-present), Univ. of Cent. Ark., https://uca.edu/politicalscience/home/research-projects/dadm-project/sub-saharan-africa-region/malagasy-republicmadagascar-1960-present/ (last visited Jan. 26, 2025).

[5] Id.

[6] Id.; Madagascar 2023, Amnesty Int’l, https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/africa/southern-africa/madagascar/report-madagascar/ (last visited Jan. 26, 2025).

[7] Amy McKenna, Andry Rajoelina president of Madagascar, Brittannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andry-Rajoelina (last visited Jan. 26, 2025).

[8] Id.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.

[12] Id.

[13] Former president alleges fraud in Madagascar election, Aljazeera (Nov. 8, 2018), https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/8/former-president-alleges-fraud-in-madagascar-election.

[14] Supra note 3.

[15] Supra note 7; supra note 3.

[16] Supra note 3.

[17] Supra note 3.

[18] Supra note 3.

[19] Supra note 3.

[20] Supra note 7.

[21] Supra note 7.

[22] Supra note 7.

[23] Supra note 7.

[24] Madagascar, Freedom House, https://freedomhouse.org/country/madagascar/freedom-world/2024 (last visited Jan. 26, 2025).

[25] Id.

[26] Supra note 7.

[27] Madagascar presidential elections show democracy crisis, Robert Lansing Inst. (Nov. 27, 2023), https://lansinginstitute.org/2023/11/27/madagascar-presidential-elections-show-democracy-crisis/.

[28] Id.

[29] Nigel Walker et. al., Madagascar: 2023 presidential election and relations with the UK, House of Commons Libr. (Nov. 27, 2023), https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9863/.

[30] Id.

[31] Id.

[32] The United States Expands Support for Elections Education and Outreach in Madagascar, U.S. Embassy in Madag. (Aug. 10, 2023), https://mg.usembassy.gov/900000-to-help-madagascar-conduct-free-fair-transparent-and-inclusive-elections/.

[33] Supra note 3.

[34] Supra note 3.

[35] Supra note 3.

[36] Supra note 3.