UN General Assembly
2018

part, have always shown a particular interest in joint actions to safeguard democratic achievements. They have always been of the conviction that progress in democracy ensures the stability that is essential for development and is a precondition for international cooperation. We are reminded of that when we look at the historic step our country is taking in its ongoing quest for achieving mature democracy. Madagascar is today at a crossroads. Under our Constitution, the presidential term is to be shortened by a few months if the incumbent President runs for his own succession. In that purer spirit of a republic, the President of the Malagasy Republic, His Excellency Mr. Hery Rajaonarimampianina Rakotoarimanana, who was democratically elected in 2013, submitted his resignation on 7 September, thereby upholding a constitutional requirement that is certainly unusual but was felt to be necessary by the Malagasy people at a particular moment in their history.