falling out with the ruling party and running against Ravalomanana in the December 2006 presidential election. He stood as a candidate in the parliamentary election for his new party, the Socialist and Democratic Party for the Unity of Madagascar (PSDUM), in the Betioky South constituency. The former ruling party AREMA was divided on whether to contest the election. The faction of the party associated with former president Didier Ratsiraka chose not to participate, unlike the faction associated with Pierrot Rajaonarivelo. The Ratsiraka faction sought to prevent the Rajaonarivelo faction's participation, but on August 23 the High Constitutional Court ruled that it could participate. The election campaign began on September 8 and continued for two weeks. There were about 7.5 million registered voters in this election and 17,586 polling stations across the country. Conduct Observers from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Union gave a positive appraisal of the election. Voter turnout was low, particularly in urban areas; in some of the Antananarivo constituencies it was as low as 20%, and there were similarly low numbers in some other cities. Results Provisional results on September 24 showed TIM winning all six of the constituencies in Antananarivo, the capital, where each constituency is represented by two deputies. In the city of Toamasina, considered an opposition stronghold, TIM candidate Pierrot Botozaza was victorious. TIM also won in the cities of Fianarantsoa and Antsiranana, but in one of the main cities it suffered a defeat, with its candidate losing to an independent candidate, Harinjatovo Rakotondramanana ("Hary Kalizy"), in the Mahajanga I constituency. Complete provisional results were released by the Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reform on September 28. These results showed TIM winning 106 of the 127 seats; the remaining seats were won by independent candidates or regional parties, except for that of Befandriana-Avaratra constituency, which was won by LEADER-Fanilo candidate Jonah Parfait Prezaly, and that of Benenitra constituency, which was won by Liaraike candidate Gaston Rakotobezanahary. The High Constitutional Court confirmed the results on October 13, making them official. It annulled the election in two constituencies, Bealanana and Mananara Avaratra, requiring the election to be held over again there. In Bealanana, TIM candidate Julien Ramanandray had won with 42.90% of the vote according to the provisional results, while in Mananara Avaratra, opposition independent candidate Boniface Zakahely had won with 44.68% of the vote according to the