3rd LD Writethru: Madagascar's president rejects parliament impeachment

Madagascar's President Hery Rajaonarimampianina rejected an impeachment by the parliament on Wednesday and hinted he will not resign.

Speaking in an national address, the president argued that the process and the transparency were not respected during the parliament's voting.

He added that only 80 members attended the voting instead of 125 as claimed by the parliament speaker.

"Fortunately that there is a court to judge it," said Rajaonarimampianina, referring to the High Constitutional Court (HCC) which will judge if the president be impeached or not.

"We cannot accept the decision of the parliament because it will damage the development of Madagascar," he said.

The president also denied in his speech that he planned to dissolve the parliament.

"I have the power to dissolve the parliament but I never said that I will dissolve it," he said.

Madagascar's parliament voted to impeach Rajaonarimampianina early Wednesday morning for alleged violation of constitution and incompetence.

According to the speaker, 121 parliament members voted yes to the impeachment of the president on early Wednesday morning.

The parliament has 151 seats and the impeachment should be voted by the two thirds of parliament members before being accepted.

The parliament has sent the impeachment file to the HCC. According to the law, the HCC has 15 days to judge it.

Parliament members who showed their support to the president told a press conference that they also sent to the HCC their complaint on vote cheating.

Rajaonarimampianina took function as Madagascar's president on Jan. 25, 2014 following a presidential election in December 2013, which was hailed as democratic by the international community after a five-year political crisis in the country. Endi