Madagascar's army cautioned against any attempt to destabilize the country, as reported on Wednesday, citing General William Michel Andriamasimanana's press conference in the nation's capital, Antananarivo.
The statement came after the national prosecutor's office and the gendarmerie announced that two officers had been charged with sedition before the first round of the election on November 16.
According to the media outlets, Andriamasimanana made no mention of the arrests, but he did state that the army was dedicated to upholding the election's results.
"Any form of destabilization, direct or indirect, whether from inside or outside, and which will hinder the development of Madagascar carried out by the next leader, will not be accepted," he was quoted as saying.
The election commission stated on Saturday that incumbent president Andry Rajoelina was elected for the second consecutive term, receiving 58.9% of the votes. The constitutional court has yet to certify the outcomes on Friday.
The incumbent president won against the background of ten out of 12 opposition candidates accusing Rajoelina of creating an environment that favors him in the election while boycotting the vote. Moreover, they organized protests on the streets of Antananarivo nearly every day a few weeks before the elections.
Furthermore, two candidates claimed that Rajoelina was ineligible to run for presidency due to his French citizenship and called for the appointment of new individuals to lead the electoral commission.
The opposition also claimed that they would not accept the results of the voting. Lawmaker Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, who came second in the election, reportedly said he had appealed to the country's highest court to overturn the results of the vote.
This will be Rajoelina's third term in office. He initially came to power through a coup d'état in 2009. Rajoelina abstained from participating in the 2013 elections due to international pressure. However, he managed to regain power by winning the 2018 presidential elections with 55.66% of the vote.