Madagascar Army Unit Seizes Control After Weeks of Protests
Demonstrations erupted in Madagascar last month over water and power shortages, sending thousands of people into the streets and leading to clashes with security forces.
Army officers in Madagascar took control of the country after lawmakers impeached President Andry Rajoelina, who went into hiding at the weekend after soldiers joined anti-government protests demanding his resignation.
The impeachment vote on Tuesday defied a declaration by Rajoelina hours earlier dissolving parliament, and came a day after he fled to an undisclosed location, becoming the latest ruler to be imperiled by so-called Gen Z protesters demanding change.
“We took the power, all the institutions in the republic are dissolved,” Colonel Michael Randrianirina of the army’s Capsat unit, told reporters outside the presidential palace in Antananarivo, the capital. A committee will be formed and will hand power back to civilians within a few days, he said.
“The crisis has lasted long enough,” Randrianirina said.
Demonstrations erupted in Madagascar last month over water and power shortages, sending thousands of people into the streets and leading to clashes with security forces in which at least 22 people died.
The outburst of anger over a lack of basic services and government corruption mirrors recent backlashes in countries including Morocco, Indonesia, Nepal and Kenya against ruling elites.
The balance of power shifted away from Rajoelina on Saturday, when CAPSAT declared its support for the protesters. The faction was instrumental in propelling Rajoelina to his first stint in office 16 years ago.
Radio France International reported earlier Monday that the president was evacuated by a French military aircraft on Sunday at the request of President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron declined to comment on French involvement but stressed the need to ensure the nation’s youth were not “co-opted by military factions or foreign interference” in remarks to reporters as he traveled back from a summit in Egypt.
Rajoelina first seized power in 2009 with the backing of the military. He stepped down in 2014, but reclaimed the presidency by winning elections in 2018 and then secured another term in a disputed vote in 2023.
He sacked the government last month in an attempt to appease the protesters and last week appointed an army general as prime minister.
The Senate appointed a new leader on Monday, who according to the constitution would act as a caretaker head of state should the president depart office.
Madagascar is one of the poorest countries on the planet, with four out of five residents living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. There have been several military coups in the Indian Ocean island nation, which lies off the coast of Mozambique, since it gained independence from France in 1960.
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