2007 Malagasy constitutional referendum

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:

2007 Malagasy constitutional referendum
4 April 2007
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?
Results
Choice
 Votes  %
Yes 2,378,650 75.33%
No 779,092 24.67%
Valid votes 3,157,742 97.94%
Invalid or blank votes 66,346 2.06%
Total votes 3,224,088 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 7,381,091 43.68%
Politics of Madagascar
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  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
    Minister: Yvette Sylla
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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
Malagasy constitutional referendum, 2007[1]
Choice Votes  %
Referendum passed Yes 2,378,650 75.33
No 779,092 24.67
Valid votes 3,157,742 97.94
Invalid or blank votes 66,346 2.06
Total votes 3,224,088 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 7,381,091 43.68

References
  1. "Arrêt n°01-HCC/AR du 27 avril 2007 portant proclamation des résultats officiels du référendum du 4 avril 2007 relatif à la révision de la Constitution.", HCC website (in French).
  2. "EISA". EISA. 2016-09-25. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
  3. "Référendum à Madagascar: le oui mène largement (deux-tiers des bureaux)", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), April 6, 2007 (in French).
  4. "Initial result shows "Yes" to revision of constitution in Madagascar", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), April 7, 2007.
  5. "Les Malgaches disent "oui" au renforcement des pouvoirs du président", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), April 7, 2007 (in French).
  6. "75,38% de oui au référendum constitutionnel", AFP (Jeuneafrique.com), April 11, 2007 (in French).
  7. "Validation du OUI au référendum" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine, Afriqueouest.info, April 27, 2007 (in French).
  8. Iloniaina Alain, "Référendum constitutionnel; L'Avi choisit le boycott" Archived 2007-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, L'Express de Madagascar, March 23, 2007 (in French).
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