Madagascar plunged into turmoil on Tuesday after the military announced it had taken control of the Indian Ocean island nation, hours after President Andry Rajoelina fled abroad following weeks of anti-government protests that escalated into a full-blown political crisis.
Colonel Michael Randrianirina, commander of the elite CAPSAT unit, declared on national radio that the army had “taken the power” after the National Assembly voted to impeach Rajoelina.
The colonel said all state institutions except the lower house of parliament were being dissolved and that a council composed of military and gendarmerie officers would take charge to appoint a prime minister and form a civilian government.
The takeover followed Rajoelina’s failed attempt to dissolve the National Assembly by decree to block impeachment proceedings.
His move backfired as sections of the military and security forces defected, siding with demonstrators instead of acting against them.
CAPSAT, the same elite unit that helped Rajoelina seize power in a 2009 coup, joined protesters over the weekend, escorting thousands of them through the capital Antananarivo and declaring it would refuse to fire on civilians.
Hours after the mutiny, Rajoelina, 51, fled Madagascar aboard a French military aircraft.
An opposition leader, a military source and a foreign diplomat confirmed that he left the country on Sunday.
Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko, leader of the opposition in parliament, said the presidency staff had confirmed his departure, though his whereabouts remain unknown.
A military source told Reuters that a French Army Casa aircraft landed at Sainte Marie airport on Sunday and that a helicopter brought Rajoelina to the plane minutes later.
French radio RFI reported that he had struck a deal with President Emmanuel Macron. Macron, speaking from Egypt after a summit on the Gaza ceasefire, said he could not confirm reports that France assisted Rajoelina’s departure but urged that constitutional order be preserved in Madagascar.
In an address broadcast on social media late Monday, Rajoelina said he had moved to a “safe place” because of threats to his life but insisted he would not resign.
Calling the rebellion “an attempt to seize power illegally and by force,” he urged that “the constitution should be respected.”
His office dismissed the Assembly’s impeachment vote as “null and void,” saying it was unconstitutional.
The protests began on September 25 over erratic water and electricity supplies and soon grew into a nationwide movement accusing the government of corruption, mismanagement and indifference to poverty.
Demonstrations, largely led by Gen Z protesters, drew thousands of young people waving the Malagasy flag and the skull-and-crossbones emblem from the Japanese anime One Piece.
Hotel worker Adrianarivony Fanomegantsoa, 22, said he joined the protests because his monthly salary of 300,000 ariary ($67) was barely enough for food.
“In 16 years the president and his government have done nothing except enrich themselves while the people stay poor. And the youth, the Gen Z, suffer the most,” he said.
At least 22 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and security forces since the unrest began, according to the United Nations.
Madagascar, a nation of about 30 million people with a median age below 20, remains among the poorest in the world.
The World Bank says GDP per capita has plunged 45 per cent since independence from France in 1960, with three-quarters of the population living in poverty.
On Monday, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Antananarivo’s main square shouting “the president must quit now.”
In what appeared to be one of his final acts before leaving the country, Rajoelina issued pardons on Sunday to several individuals, including two French nationals, Paul Maillot Rafanoharana and Francois Marc Philippe, who had been convicted of undermining state security over an attempted coup in 2021.
Madagascar’s crisis, the gravest since 2009, reflects a wave of youth-led uprisings seen elsewhere.
Demonstrators have drawn parallels with recent protests in Nepal, which forced the prime minister’s resignation, and in Morocco.
Macron said France understood the grievances of Madagascar’s youth but warned that such concerns “should not be exploited by military factions.”
Sixteen years after leading a military-backed coup that brought him to power, Andry Rajoelina now finds himself ousted by the same forces that once elevated him.
With inputs from Reuters