An elite military unit in Madagascar announced on Tuesday that it had taken control of the Indian Ocean nation after the national assembly voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina, following weeks of anti-government protests.
Rajoelina, reportedly hiding outside the country, refused on Monday to resign despite a protest movement beginning on September 25, which gained support from the CAPSAT military unit over the weekend.
Colonel Michael Randrianirina, commander of CAPSAT, declared from the presidential palace that the constitution was suspended and announced the formation of a governing committee comprising officers from the army, gendarmerie, and national police.
“The committee may eventually include senior civilian advisers. It will assume the presidency’s duties,” Randrianirina stated. “In a few days, a civilian government will be established.”
“We have seized power,” he confirmed to AFP afterwards.
Following the announcement, unit officers paraded through the capital in armored Humvees and pick-up trucks heading to their base, where hundreds of soldiers awaited them in formation, according to AFP journalists.
Crowds gathered along the streets, cheering and waving as the convoy passed, with some following in their cars, honking in celebration through a city still tense.
The constitutional court later affirmed Randrianirina’s authority and declared the presidency vacant. Madagascar’s constitution requires the top court’s approval for presidential impeachment to be valid.
However, the presidency condemned the military’s action as “a blatant coup attempt” and rejected it.
“The President of the Republic remains fully in office, ensuring constitutional order and national stability,” it stated.
The nearly daily protests, led by the youth movement Gen Z, were fueled by anger over power and water shortages, evolving into a movement against the president and the ruling elite.
Events escalated over the weekend when CAPSAT—prominent in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power—joined the protests, followed by the gendarmerie, which confessed to “faults and excesses” in their efforts to suppress demonstrations that resulted in fatalities.
‘Safe Place’
Despite a presidential decree to dissolve the national assembly, parliamentarians proceeded with the impeachment vote against Rajoelina for neglect of duty.
The vote succeeded with 130 in favor, surpassing the required two-thirds majority. The presidency argued the session lacked legal standing.
Amid reports of his departure with French assistance, Rajoelina—who holds French citizenship—stated in a national address that he was in a “safe place to protect my life.”
He didn’t disclose his location, though some reports suggested Dubai.
Rajoelina made clear he wouldn’t step down, asserting he was “on a mission to find solutions” to the political crisis and wouldn’t allow the impoverished nation to “self-destruct.”
At a new rally outside city hall on Tuesday, demonstrators voiced anger at France, the former colonial ruler until 1960, accusing it of interfering in Madagascar’s affairs.
“It’s as if they’re colonizing us again,” said civil engineer Koloina Rakotomavonirina, 26. “We want them to leave our island for good.”
“They are mocking us,” said 29-year-old orthodontist Ramalanjaona Valimbavaka Bien Aime.
The United Nations reported at least 22 fatalities in the initial protest days, but the government downplayed the number, claiming only a dozen looters and vandals died.
To calm the protests, Rajoelina dismissed his entire government last month. Meeting one of the protestors’ demands, the Senate president was replaced.
