In Madagascar, three days after the legislative elections which aimed to completely renew the 163 deputies in the National Assembly, the Safidy Observatory, the largest electoral observation mission in the country, made public its first findings.
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With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Sarah Tétaud
With its citizen observers deployed in almost 4,000 polling stations (out of the 28,000 in the country), Safidy draws up an initial global situation: “ more active participation of political actors, but a vote marred by some worrying incidents “.
Voters who are allowed to vote several times, others who access the polls without identification, distributions of money or food by candidates or their supporters, these are some of the irregularities noted by the ‘Safidy Observatory on election day. “ Safidy will file requests and handle situations on a case-by-case basis based on the evidence we will receive from observers who are still on the ground. So we can’t yet comment on whether or not this compromises the election results. », Explains Carinah Rahaivojaonina, spokesperson for Safidy.
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Doubts about the neutrality of the Céni, according to the observatory
In its preliminary report, the observatory once again questions the neutrality, impartiality and independence of the Ceni, the Electoral Commission in charge of organizing the polls. The latter had been the target of intense criticism – particularly from the opposition – during the 2023 presidential election.
And the Malagasy administration, as explained by Stella Razanamahefa, Safidy’s second spokesperson, is also blamed. “ Another thing that we have been able to point out is the involvement of state and party personnel in power, in particular prefects, district heads or ministry personnel… This is always problematic at each election because the parties in power take the involvement of these personnel in their campaign for granted, which causes inequalities of opportunity between the candidates “.
The observation mission is far from over. Many citizens affiliated with Safidy are watching with great vigilance these days the analysis and processing of the minutes which are currently being carried out in the different census sections of voting materials on the island.
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