Pretoria - Voters in Madagascar have approved the constitutional referendum, election officials said on Monday.
The Madagascan people were asked to answer Yes or No to the proposed new constitution, which is considered to help consolidate Andry Rajoelina's grip on power.
The electoral commission said 74 percent of voters approved the charter.
At the weekend, regional leaders at the Southern African Development Community summit held in Botswana, said they did not recognise the referendum as legitimate.
A group of mutinous officers tried to seize power midway through voting day on Wednesday but the vote continued uninterrupted. The officers surrendered days later.
Meanwhile, as registration centers in north Sudan are complaining about the weak turnout of voters who have rights to vote in south Sudan referendum, registration centers in south Sudan are experiencing a voters' rush.
South Sudan government, run by Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), shows great concerns with the voter registration process as it is the base of the self-determination referendum for south Sudan, slated for January 9, 2011.
"Voters' registration is progressing well. We have called for all eligible voters in and outside Sudan to register to ensure their right in the coming referendum," said Riek Machar, vice-president of south Sudan government.
"The registration phase constitutes a decisive stage in the referendum process," he said.
Meanwhile, Western Bahr El-Ghazal State governor Riziq Zakaria told Xinhua that "our arrangements regarding the referendum process are progressing satisfactorily and we are fully ready for all stages."
"Voters' registration in Western Bahr El-Ghazal State is being conducted in 120 centers. In three days 33 000 citizens have registered," he said, adding "the problem we faced is the intensive turnout of voters, which poses a great pressure on the registration personnel."
However, registration process in north Sudan is not progressing as well as in the southern states, and two major partners of the Sudanese government, the National Congress Party (NCP) and the SPLM, are exchanging accusations over hampering the registration process in north Sudan.
The NCP threatened not to recognise the referendum result if the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) does not resolve what it termed as "the big violations" at the registration centers. - BuaNews-Xinhua
