U.N. Suggest May or June 2013 for Madagascar Elections

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U.N. experts are calling for elections to be held in May or June 2013 in crisis-hit Madagascar, six months after the date suggested by the electoral commission, local daily L'Express said Saturday.

Neither the United Nations nor the Independent National Electoral Commission of the Transition were available for comment.

The Indian Ocean Island, which has been mired in a political crisis since March 2009, when former president Marc Ravalomanana was ousted by the current strongman Andry Rajoelina, had called in U.N. experts to help it organize long-awaited polls.

On May 29, the national electoral commission said that December 2012 could be a technical possible date for the presidential and legislative polls.

However, L'Express quoted a U.N. document saying that elections should not be held during the November to April rainy season. Rather both polls should be held in May or June 2013, said the daily.

The electoral commission has said it would issue a definitive polling date in August.

The ousted president Ravalomanana is now in exile in South Africa, having been found guilty in absentia for the deaths of opposition demonstrators.

Madagascar's main political factions signed an accord in September last year to set up a transitional government to guide the vast Indian Ocean Island to elections.

Among elements of the transition accord was the creation of the electoral commission.

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