2007 Malagasy constitutional referendum
Constitutional referendum
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A constitutional referendum was held in Madagascar on 4 April 2007.[1] The proposed changes, which voters were asked to approve or reject as a whole,[2] included:
- expansion of presidential powers in cases of emergency
- abolition of the six autonomous provinces in favor of 22 smaller areas (faritra or regions), a change that is intended to facilitate regional development
- adoption of English as an official language (in addition to the two existing official languages, French and Malagasy)[3]
- removal of the phrase "secular state" (French: état laïque) from the Constitution[3]
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4 April 2007
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Do you accept this draft revision of the Constitution for rapid and sustainable development by region, in order to improve the standard of living of Malagasy people? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early results, with 73.18% of the vote counted, showed that turnout was around 42.43%. The referendum appeared likely to be passed because 74.93% of the voters in Antananarivo were in favour of the amendments, even though it seemed likely that in four of the five other provinces the "no" vote might have won.[4] According to results released on 7 April, with votes from 85.47% of polling stations counted, 75.24% were in favor of the proposed changes. Roland Ratsiraka, who placed third in the 2006 presidential election and opposed the proposed changes, alleged fraud.[5]
Official results were released on 11 April, but it was necessary for the Constitutional High Court to validate the results in order for them to be final,[6] and this happened on 27 April.[7]
The Judged By Your Work Party (AVI) chose to boycott the referendum, saying that it was deceitful for the referendum to describe a "yes" vote as being a vote for national development.[8]
Results
| Choice | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| For | 2,378,650 | 75.33 | |
| Against | 779,092 | 24.67 | |
| Total | 3,157,742 | 100.00 | |
| Valid votes | 3,157,742 | 97.94 | |
| Invalid/blank votes | 66,346 | 2.06 | |
| Total votes | 3,224,088 | 100.00 | |
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,381,091 | 43.68 | |
| Source: HCC[1] | |||