Madagascar’s government faced a backlash on Wednesday after it moved to have the publication of an opinion poll ahead of presidential elections cancelled, claiming it was protecting “public order”.
The survey, commissioned by the German Friedrich Ebert foundation, canvassed voting intentions ahead of the first round of presidential voting on November 7 and was due to be published by current affairs magazine Politika.
A run-off round of polling will be held on December 19 if there is no outright winner in the first ballot.
Authorities ordered that the publication containing the results be withdrawn from news stands, according to the publishers who also cancelled a scheduled media conference to announce their findings.
“We note the significant concerns over the publication of the opinion poll results and the importance of maintaining public order, state security and national dignity, as flagged to us officially,” said the publishers in a statement.
