Madagascar President introduces lie detectors

Madagascar’s military President, Colonel Michael Randrianirina, has launched an unusual and controversial anti-corruption measure: he’s ordered that all candidates seeking ministerial positions in the transitional government must first pass a lie detector (polygraph) test before they can be considered for office.

In a televised announcement from the capital Antananarivo, Randrianirina explained that the island nation had purchased a polygraph machine and brought in a specialist operator to manage the screening process.

The requirement applies to every aspiring minister, from finance to foreign affairs, and serves as a precondition before any formal interview with him and his newly appointed Prime Minister.

Applicants who fail the test will not proceed further in the selection process.

“We will know who is corrupt and who can help us,” Randrianirina told reporters, conceding that the goal was not to find perfectly clean individuals but those judged to be “more than 60 percent clean” according to the machine’s reading.

This decree comes on the heels of a sweeping shake-up of the government, including the dismissal of the entire previous cabinet and the appointment of anti-corruption chief Mamitiana Rajaonarison as Prime Minister earlier this month.