Voters in Madagascar re-elected Andry Rajoelina as the Indian Ocean island nation’s president after he secured more than 50% of votes in the first round of voting.
A former DJ and mayor of Antananarivo, the capital, Rajoelina garnered a provisional 58.95% of the 5.12 million ballots cast in Nov. 16 ballot, the country’s electoral commission said in a live broadcast on Saturday. Former judo champion Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko came in second, with 14.4% of votes.
Forty-nine year-old Rajoelina sought a third term as Madagascar’s leader after first taking office in 2009. He didn’t run in 2013 but returned to the presidency in 2018, the most recent election.
Madagascar, almost twice the size of Arizona, is the world’s biggest producer of vanilla and a prospective oil producer. The country has one of the highest poverty rates in the world, amounting to 75% of the population last year, according to the World Bank.
