Madagascar Court Declares Rajoelina Winner of Presidential Vote

(Bloomberg) -- Madagascar’s Constitutional Court declared Andry Rajoelina the winner of last month’s runoff presidential election his rival says was rigged.

Rajoelina, who previously served as president from 2009 to 2014, obtained 55.7 percent of the vote, compared with 44.3 percent for Marc Ravalomanana, Jean-Eric Rakotoarisoa, the president of the court, told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Antananarivo. Rajoelina will be sworn in later this month, he said.

The announcement is based on results compiled by the Indian Ocean island nation’s electoral commission and comes after a review of fraud claims filed by Ravalomanana since the end of vote count last month.

Millionaire businessman Ravalomanana led the country, which is the world’s biggest producer of vanilla, from 2002 to 2009 before being overthrown in a coup by Rajoelina, a former nightclub DJ and ex-mayor of Antananarivo. Both men were banned from contesting the 2013 election as part of an international agreement to end a political crisis in the nation.

--With assistance from Kamlesh Bhuckory.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aina Rahagalala in Antananarivo at arahagalala@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Helen Nyambura

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