Madagascar: Political party system

Extracted from: Lucien Toulou 2009 "Chapter 6: Madagascar" IN Denis Kadima and Susan Booysen (eds) Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa 1989-2009: 20 Years of Multiparty Democracy, EISA, Johannesburg,198-199.

The constitution of Madagascar recognises the principle of political pluralism. According to the constitution, citizens may organise freely in associations and political parties without prior authorisation. However, associations or political parties that preach totalitarianism or segregation of an ethnic, tribal, or religious nature are forbidden. There are many political parties and associations in Madagascar. For instance, no fewer than 150 political parties and independent candidates participated in the December 2002 National Assembly elections. Among these were many recently formed political parties and a large number of independent candidates with a strong local affiliation to their constituencies. Only a few of the parties had a strong party organisation and a secretariat offering services to the candidates, members and the public. A research study on political parties in Madagascar further suggests that political parties in the country serve less as instruments of democracy than as tools of neo-patrimonial rule (Marcus & Ratsimbaharison 2005, 495-512). The very high number of associations, parties and candidates running for elections can even cause confusion amongst the voters. Indeed, an excessive number of parties competing and winning legislative seats could compromise the stability of the party system and favour electoral upheavals.

Legal reform

In 2009 an attempt was made to address the situation by legislation, Loi no 2009-002 relative aux partis politiques , aimed at strengthening the multiparty system by:

• Restricting the nomination of candidates for election to registered parties and reducing the number of registered parties by more onerous provisions for party registration that would also be applicable to existing parties (see Political party registration).
• Strengthening those parties that qualified for registration by the provision of public funding to them for the first time (see Political party finances).

References

LOI NO 2009-002 relative aux partis politiques, [www] http://ddata.over-blog.com/xxxyyy/1/35/48/78/Madagascar/loi-2009-sur-les-partis-politiques.pdf [PDF document, opens new window] (accessed 14 Jun 2010).

MARCUS, R & RATSIMBAHARISON, A 2005 "Political Parties in Madagascar: Neopatrimonial Tools or Democratic Instruments?", Party Politics, 1(4).