A total of 46 candidates including the incumbent president and his two predecessors are seeking to contest Madagascar’s presidential polls at the end of the year,
While revealing the information on Tuesday, the Constitutional Court said that they will assess the candidates’ eligibility and confirm by Sunday which ones will be allowed to stand in the first round of the elections.
The vote scheduled for November 7 comes after an outbreak of protests that forced President Heri Rajaonarimampianina to accept the formation of a “consensus” government tasked with organizing a fresh poll.
If no candidate receives more than 50% in the first round, a second round of voting will be held on December 19.
Rajaonarimampianina, elected in 2013, will seek re-election as will his predecessors Andry Rajoelina, who was in power from 2009-2014, and Marc Ravalomanana, who held office from 2002 to 2009.
Opposition grandees Rajoelina and Ravalomanana were both barred from running in 2013 under a deal designed to bring stability to the impoverished Indian Ocean Island.
Madagascar is a former French colony with a population of 25 million that has been beset by political instability for decades.
