Today, Madagascar’s citizens head to the polls for parliamentary elections in which President Andry Rajoelina’s Tanora Malagasy Vonona party aims to secure its majority. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) has announced that approximately 12 million voters are eligible to participate.
In the 2019 elections, Rajoelina’s party won 84 out of 151 seats in the National Assembly. The assembly is composed of 151 members elected through a mixed system: 87 seats are filled through single-member constituencies by majority vote, and the remaining 64 seats are allocated via closed-list proportional representation in 32 two-seat constituencies.
To retain a majority, the party needs at least 76 seats. Observers from the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are monitoring the elections. These parliamentary elections follow a contentious presidential vote last November, where Rajoelina was re-elected amid low voter turnout and an opposition boycott.
