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Madagascar’s president orders lie detector tests for candidates applying to be government ministers

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — Anyone applying to become a minister in Madagascar’s new government will be subjected to lie detector tests to root out those who are corrupt, the country’s military leader said Thursday.

President Michael Randrianirina, who took power in a coup in the Indian Ocean island in October, said Madagascar had acquired a polygraph machine and a specialist to operate it to vet new government ministers.

“We will know who is corrupt and who can help us,” Randrianirina said. “We are not looking for someone who is 100% clean, but someone who is more than 60% clean.”

Randrianirina, a colonel in an elite army unit, ousted President Andry Rajoelina after a weekslong uprising last year by mainly young Madagascans frustrated with the lack of government services and opportunities in a nation of around 32 million that is beset by poverty.

Randrianirina fired his entire Cabinet and dissolved the government last week. He appointed a new prime minister on Sunday.

“After taking the polygraph test, candidates who fail will not proceed to an interview,” Randrianirina told reporters. “Those who pass the polygraph test will have an interview with me and the prime minister.”

Randrianirina has promised to hold new elections within two years of him taking power.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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