Urban municipality of Antananarivo
Urban municipality of Antananarivo
The urban municipality of Antananarivo is the capital of Madagascar. Located in the Analamanga region, the capital has a population of over 3 million, most of whom work in the service sector. Although the council has been working with GL since 2010, the action plan on gender and combating gender-based violence (GBV) was not adopted until 2011 due to the political situation in the country. However, the municipality actively participates in organizing activities during the 16 Days of Activism. Following the local elections in 2015, the municipality had a woman at the head of the city for the first time in history.
Introduction
Antananarivo, October 21: 2015 is a strategic year for the Big Island. Municipal and local elections were held on July 31, and partial results were announced the following day. For the first time in the history of the urban municipality of Antananarivo, a woman is at the helm of the municipality. She is Lalao Ravalomanana, wife of the former President of the Republic of Madagascar, Marc.
The handover of power was completed between the President of the Special Delegation (PDS) of the urban municipality of Antananarivo (CUA), Colonel Joseph Ramiaramanana, and the newly elected mayor, Lalao Ravalomanana. She succeeds nine mayors and five PDS, including two women appointed by the Ministry of the Interior, Michelle Ratsivalaka and Olga Rasamimanana.
During the election campaign, five women ran alongside four men. Provisional results revealed that the top three places were taken by Lalao Ravalomanana, née Rakotonirainy, who won 55.9% of the vote, Lalatiana Rakotondrazafy, who obtained 31.4% of the votes, and Harilala Ramanantsoa, who received 3.1% of the votes in the 610 polling stations in the six districts of the capital. Voter turnout was estimated at 29.1%.
Lalao Ravalomanana has been serving as the city's chief magistrate since October 6. “We are going to enforce discipline because without respect for the rules, it is impossible for us to do our job properly,” she emphasized during the handover ceremony. Several tasks await the new mayor, starting with sanitation, cracking down on street vendors, combating illegal construction, landfills, and illegal parking. A former business leader, the mayor-elect headed the Tiko group long before her husband was removed from office as president.
In previous elections, only 4% of women stood as candidates. This year, each former province has seen a particular motivation among female candidates. Having undergone training in politics and municipal elections, they are becoming aware of gender issues and want to demonstrate that they too are potential actors in development.
Madagascar has signed the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which stipulates that candidates must accept equal participation between women and men in all electoral processes, including the administration of elections and voting. Unfortunately, however, women are still underrepresented in decision-making positions, including in the political sphere.
In the municipal elections, there was not only the incumbent mayor. There were also four women, including a journalist and businesswomen. They all expressed their determination to win by a landslide. Lalatiana Ravololomanana, who represented the opposition, was nevertheless very critical of the organization of these municipal elections. “Since the presidential and legislative elections, the CENI-T has forced the process. It is making the same mistake again, and that is why I ran as a candidate, to oppose the system and the irregularities.” Of the 7,323 candidates running in the July 31 municipal elections, 443 were women. These elections are key to the country's future because without their results, it will be impossible for the country to establish the last institution, the Senate, which will serve as a legislative body and advisory body to the government.
