Pretoria - South Africa has welcomed on Tuesday a decision taken by the new Malagasy electoral court on a list of presidential candidates for the forthcoming elections later this week.
Madagascar's Special Electoral Court (CES) late on Saturday cancelled eight candidacies, including those of the three controversial contenders to run in this year's presidential elections.
Transitional President Andry Rajoelina and his two rivals, former president Didier Ratsiaraka and ex-first lady Lalao Ravalomanana, are among the candidates removed from the list of competitors for the presidency.
Pretoria views the move as a step forward in the process of ending the crisis in Madagascar, which must pass through the holding of free, transparent and credible elections.
“This decision comes at a crucial moment in Madagascar’s history, as the country prepares for the elections that would restore constitutional normalcy,” Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.
The move by the CES follows shortly on the interventions made by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ Troika on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, together with the African Union (AU), supported by the International Contact Group on Madagascar (ICG-M), which included the presentation of a seven-point plan to break the political impasse in Madagascar.
Monyela said Pretoria calls on all stakeholders to “respect the decision of the CES and allow for the implementation of the outstanding measures to ensure that favourable and conducive conditions are created for Madagascar to hold successful presidential and legislative elections as soon as possible”.
Madagascar was plunged into a political crisis in late 2008. In March 2009, Rajoelina replaced Marc Ravalomanana with the backing of the military. The takeover was seen as a coup by the international community. – SAnews.gov.za–Xinhua
