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

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — 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.