General elections – heavy security around the Department of the Interior

Compiling the results as they reached the election command center, one voting precinct at a time is no longer a priority. The staff has been ordered to post only the complete results of each congressional district. And since one can never be too cautious, the results are double-checked even at the Department of the Interior. Two teams (computer science engineering students fro MISA, and technicians from the State Military Dispatch Office) gather the results using two separate servers.

The results are not posted until they have been validated by both teams. This is why, 24 hours after the polls have closed, only the results of four congressional districts are available for the public at the Department of the Interior.

These early results indicate a TIM, and a National Coalition landslide victory in the urban municipalities of Antananarivo, Antsirabe (160 km south of the capital), and Antsiranana, the Island?s northernmost city; these pro-Ravalomanana entities share the 16 available congressional seats for these regions.

Those government officials who ran as TIM or as National Coalition candidates thus won by a very comfortable, and impressive margin. On the Island of Sainte-Marie, Prime Minister Jacques Sylla is expected to win with 60% of the votes.

It should be noted that the participation rate for the December 15, 2002 elections is around 60%; it was 56% in 1993, 60% in 1998, and 42% in 1999.

The major results should reach the election command center Tuesday evening. The ten day deadline, for unofficial preliminary results, mandated by the Minister of the Interior can still be maintained.

For preliminary results, subject to review and possible change by the Supreme Court, please visit: http://www.dts.mg/otme

Translated by J. F. Razanamiadana