Former Madagascan leader Andry Rajoelina has been announced the winner of the Indian Ocean island's presidential elections in provisional results released on Thursday.
Rajoelina was present when the electoral commission announced that he had garnered 55.66 per cent of the vote, compared with 44.34 per cent for rival Marc Ravalomanana - who was not in attendance.
Ravalomanana, also a former president, has slammed the elections on the island off the coast of Africa for being a ‘massive fraud.’ The constitutional court now has nine days to announce definitive results.
Politics in Madagascar, a former French colony that is among the world's poorest countries, have long been marred by coups and unrest.
Rajoelina and Ravalomanana have a difficult history between them, as the former replaced the latter as the nation's leader after a 2009 military coup.
The first round of voting in the latest elections took place in November, with Rajoelina getting 39 per cent to Ravalomanana's 35 per cent.
The second round was held earlier this month. Ravalomanana raised concerns over what his party said were fake IDs and voter cards.
Madagascar underwent a protracted crisis earlier this year after parliament adopted a new electoral law that the opposition said would favour the current government.
For over a month, dozens of opposition members of parliament and their supporters gathered daily in the centre of Antananarivo demanding the resignation of the head of state.
There were threats the military would step in if the government did not follow a constitutional court order in May to find a consensus candidate for the post of prime minister and establish a national unity government.
As a compromise Prime Minister Christian Ntsay, a UN-agency technocrat, was appointed prime minister and the electoral law amended.