A constitutional referendum was held in Madagascar on 4 April 2007.[1] The proposed changes, which voters were asked to approve or reject as a whole,[2] included:
- expansion of presidential powers in cases of emergency
- abolition of the six autonomous provinces in favor of 22 smaller areas (faritra or regions), a change that is intended to facilitate regional development
- adoption of English as an official language (in addition to the two existing official languages, French and Malagasy)[3]
- removal of the phrase "secular state" (French: état laïque) from the Constitution[3]
Early results, with 73.18% of the vote counted, showed that turnout was around 42.43%. The referendum appeared likely to be passed because 74.93% of the voters in Antananarivo were in favour of the amendments, even though it seemed likely that in four of the five other provinces the "no" vote might have won.[4] According to results released on 7 April, with votes from 85.47% of polling stations counted, 75.24% were in favor of the proposed changes. Roland Ratsiraka, who placed third in the 2006 presidential election and opposed the proposed changes, alleged fraud.[5]
Official results were released on 11 April, but it was necessary for the Constitutional High Court to validate the results in order for them to be final,[6] and this happened on 27 April.[7]
The Judged By Your Work Party (AVI) chose to boycott the referendum, saying that it was deceitful for the referendum to describe a "yes" vote as being a vote for national development.[8]
Results
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
){kind=small} Yes | 2,378,650 | 75.33 |
| No | 779,092 | 24.67 |
| Valid votes | 3,157,742 | 97.94 |
| Invalid or blank votes | 66,346 | 2.06 |
| Total votes | 3,224,088 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters and turnout | 7,381,091 | 43.68 |
References
- ^ a b "Arrêt n°01-HCC/AR du 27 avril 2007 portant proclamation des résultats officiels du référendum du 4 avril 2007 relatif à la révision de la Constitution.", HCC website (in French).
- ^ "EISA". EISA. 2016-09-25. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ a b "Référendum à Madagascar: le oui mène largement (deux-tiers des bureaux)", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), April 6, 2007 (in French).
- ^ "Initial result shows "Yes" to revision of constitution in Madagascar", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), April 7, 2007.
- ^ "Les Malgaches disent "oui" au renforcement des pouvoirs du président", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), April 7, 2007 (in French).
- ^ "75,38% de oui au référendum constitutionnel", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), April 11, 2007 (in French).
- ^ "Validation du OUI au référendum" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Afriqueouest.info, April 27, 2007 (in French).
- ^ Iloniaina Alain, "Référendum constitutionnel; L'Avi choisit le boycott" Archived 2007-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, L'Express de Madagascar, March 23, 2007 (in French).