The 2007 Legislative Elections and Prospects for Democracy in Madagascar

Abstract

The ruling party in Madagascar scored a landslide victory during the September 2007 legislative elections and now fi nds itself unopposed in the National Assembly. Issues arising from the call for snap elections and the overwhelming political power allocated to the president by the new constitution threaten to roll back the democratic gains achieved since Ravalomanana succeeded the long-serving Ratsiraka. Moreover, the opposition has been obliterated from the assembly, blurring the line between the multi-party process underway in the country and the revival of the one-party system lifted earlier in 1990. Those elections have also questioned the causal connection between leadership alternation and democratic consolidation.

Africa Insight Vol. 38 (1) 2008: pp. 136-145