Madagascar presidential hopeful Marc Ravalomanana has said he is confident of closing the gap for a second-round victory over his rival who narrowly beat him in the first leg of presidential polls.
Andry Rajoelina received 39.23% of votes and Ravalomanana 35.35% in last month’s poll, according to final results, setting up the pair for a close contest in the December 19 run-off to lead the Indian Ocean island nation.
“The difference between me and the first placed candidate was just 3 or 5%,” Ravalomanana told AFP at his palatial home on Monday in the capital Antananarivo.
“We can catch up and overtake him.”
Outgoing president Hery Rajaonarimampianina came a distant third with just 8.82%.
Campaigning for the closely-watched second round begins on Tuesday and promises to be a fierce fight as the bitter rivals make their final pitches to the electorate of nearly 10 million.
The pair – armed with significant campaign resources – have crisscrossed the island of 25 million by helicopter promising voters a better future.
Ravalomanana promised to tackle the unrest that has dogged Madagascar in recent months as he brandished his manifesto and vowed to restart a welfare programme for schoolchildren started during his term in office.
“We are going to rebuild this nation because it has all been destroyed, we’re going to restore trust between the people and their leaders,” he said.
Ravalomanana is counting on mobilising voters who abstained in the first round – 46% of those eligible to cast ballots – to close the gap with Rajoelina.
He has also sought to secure the backing of the 34 presidential hopefuls who were knocked out in the first round.
Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries, according to World Bank data, with almost four in five people living in grinding poverty.
But Ravalomanana insists he has a vision to change the island state for good.
“I can guarantee you that I will win, it’s sure!” he said even before the two pre-vote TV debates which will see him go head to head with his arch-rival.
He vowed that if he came out the winner after December 19 he would not repeat what he described as the only error of his first term – cutting the military’s budget.
It was that decision which he claims pushed the army to help oust him and install Rajoelina in 2009.
“I neglected the military by focusing on rural development and education,” he said.
