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UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Monday backed African calls for Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina and two rivals to withdraw from the country's presidential election in July.

Ban criticized a decision by Madagascar's electoral court to accept the candidacies of Rajoelina, Lalao Ravalomanana, wife of the leader ousted by Rajoelina, and another former president Didier Ratsiraka.

"The secretary general shares the concerns expressed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union over the latest developments in the electoral process in Madagascar," said the UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

SADC has called on the three to withdraw from the election, which it spent years trying to mediate between rival political factions. The African Union said Friday it would not recognize the result if Rajoelina was declared winner.

Ban believes the move by Rajoelina, Ravalomanana and Ratsiraka to enter the election race their acceptance by the electoral court "is in violation of the spirit of the SADC-mediated road map,"