MADAGASCAR- Electoral Court in Madagascar has declared the country's former Finance Minister, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, the legitimate winner of the last Presidential election.

The ruling followed a legal dispute over alleged vote rigging in the chaotic elections.

Madagascar's electoral court ended the legal dispute over the winner of December's run-off presidential elections on Friday, ruling that Rajaonarimampianina had fairly won the majority of votes.

Hery Rajaonarimampianina "[is] declared official president of the Republic of Madagascar," the court announced.

Only half of the country's eight million registered voters cast ballots in the run-off polls, which many hoped would end years of political uncertainty and restore democracy.

The results of the December 20 vote gave Rajaonarimampianina roughly 53 percent of the vote, while his opponent, Robinson Jean Louis won only 46.51 percent.

Following the run-off election, Louis took the case to the electoral court, accusing his opponent of ballot stuffing and calling the polls a "massive fraud." His party demanded a re-count of the ballots.

Louis - the country's former health minister - had been favored to win in December after taking 21.1 of the vote in the first round of voting, which had been held in October.

Rajaonarimampianina, by contrast, had garnered only 16 percent of the vote in the first round.