Madagascar bans public protests ahead of presidential election | News

Government critics see ban as part of larger crackdown on dissent ahead of voting in November.

Madagascar’s government has banned public protests as concerns about the stifling of dissent grow seven months before the presidential election, Radio France International (RFI) reports.

French-owned RFI said on Monday that the minister of interior announced on state TV that no political protests would be allowed in public but they could be held in “an enclosed place” so public order could be maintained.

The announcement was made on Friday. A day earlier, the La Gazette de la Grande…