Candidates for Madagascar’s presidential elections in November will have a three-week period next month in which to file their bid, the Constitutional Court announced Monday.
“Submissions will be accepted from 9:00 am on Wednesday August 1 to 5:00 pm on Tuesday August 21,” it said in a statement on its website.
“The official list of candidates… will be published in the official journal of the republic by Sunday August 26 at the latest,” it added.
If there is no outright winner of the first round on November 7, a second round will he held on December 19, caretaker Prime Minister Christian Ntsay said Friday.
The Indian Ocean island, a former French colony with a population of 25 million, has been beset for decades by political instability and grinding poverty.
In June, mounting protests forced President Hery Rajaonarimampianina to accept the formation of a “consensus” government tasked with organising a fresh poll.
Rajaonarimampianina, elected in 2013, has not yet said if he will stand again.
Rival opposition leaders Marc Ravalomanana, who was president 2002-09, and Andry Rajoelina, in office 2009-14, have indicated they will contest the election. Rajoelina ousted Ravalomanana in a coup in 2009.
