The HAT referendum´s positive point: the CENI is feeling satisfied of its work

The president of the CENI is giving tribute to its department´s three admirably completed missions in its first 8 months: The formation of an administration, the institution´s deployment and the organization of November 17th´s referendum. Hery Rakotomanana is pulling great satisfaction from the successful organization of the dictating authority´s first ever organization popular consultation, downsizing the various irregularities observed all along the voting process and defending the operation´s alleged clean sheet.

“I officially stated that the number voters integrated into additional registers didn´t exceed 2 percents. In the end they were merely 0.64 percent” argued Hery Rakotomanana while praising the state´s decision to extend the voting period; “This action allowed many voters to complete their duty”. Before the referendum, registers recorded the definite number of 7,051,809 electors. Since the HAT suppressed any resort to the court, these registers were supposed to be no more possibly altered.

No matter what the dictating regime and its electoral commission might tell about it, the last minute alteration of the rules was aiming at manipulating the participation rate. 46,163 voters were added to registers. Hery Rakotomanana obviously denied the political trick, by arguing that voters entitled to vote with fokontany notebooks and past electoral cards could mathematically not have influenced the results. In this sense, the HAT´s decision is even being appreciated by the commission for having served the restoration of correct figures in electoral registers.

The Regional Computerized Center was blamed for these errors in the electoral register. The CENI´s president pointed at the Interior ministry´s led organization: “My electoral commission handled the process only in the referendum´s latest straight line, namely from November 2nd. Some people failed from giving the leaflet back to fokontany officials and consequently refused to be held in account in the census”. Now voters get a share of the blame too.

According to November 17th´s referendum´s final though non official results, the YES answer largely won 74.13 percents of votes with a 52.69 percent high participation rate. The YES answer´s supporters are expecting legitimacy from a participation rate slightly overtaking 50 percents. It is however better than the latest legal referendum´s 43 percents. The comparison is however not possible between a simple constitutional amendment and the installation of a brand new republic, an illegal one