In view of the next presidential election in 2023, the Brussels institutions have dispatched an electoral monitoring mission to Madagascar. The aim is to verify whether the 27 recommendations of the previous electoral observation mission had been fulfilled. In almost three years, almost nothing has changed, lamented this delegation of the European Union during a press conference.
With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Laura Verneau
“ Little has been done notes Christian Preda, head of the European Union’s electoral monitoring mission, who has been in the capital for a month. For this former member of the European Parliament and chief observer of the electoral observation mission in 2018, there was plenty to do on the main points advanced at the time. It had been mentioned the change of status of the Ceni, the electoral commission, for its financial autonomy and thus strengthen its independence, the vote of the Malagasy abroad, or even on the ceiling of campaign expenses.
There is indeed a parliamentary commission responsible for this control, the Commission for the Control of Political Life, but it has no legal tools to sanction politicians who fail in their duties. For Christian Preda, “ the current parliamentary session should focus on these issues, in particular on the independence of the CENI “.
A full report expected in less than a month
What are the consequences of this finding for Madagascar? “ The country must already invite the European Union observation mission again, notes a source close to international diplomacy. The absence of an observation mission, from the European Union or from another major institution, could affect the credibility and/or reputation of the electoral process. The reports of the European Union in 2013 and 2018 had, for example, been important in the consolidation and in the return of Madagascar to the international scene. »
A full report should be out within 3 weeks. The European Union’s assessment mission began on April 23 on the big island and will end on May 22.
►Also read: Madagascar: controversial swearing in of new members of the CENI