(Al Jazeera Media Network) A Madagascar army colonel says the military has taken charge of the African island nation after its parliament voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina.
Colonel Michael Randrianirina’s announcement in front of the ceremonial presidential palace in the capital, Antananarivo, on Tuesday came almost immediately after parliament voted to impeach Rajoelina, who fled the country after soldiers joined mass antigovernment protests.
“We have taken the power,” Randrianirina said, adding that the military was dissolving all institutions except the lower house of parliament.
Randrianirina said the military would form a council composed of officers from the military and the gendarmerie law enforcement force. A prime minister would be appointed to “quickly” form a civilian government, he said.
He also said the constitution and the powers of the High Constitutional Court have been suspended. He said a referendum would be held in two years.
Rajoelina had been facing growing calls to resign throughout weeks of youth-led antigovernment protests. A turning point in the protests came on Saturday when an elite military unit joined the demonstrators and turned against Rajoelina. That prompted Rajoelina to say there was an attempt to seize power, and he went into hiding.
Rajoelina, a former mayor of Antananarivo, said in a speech broadcast on social media on Monday night that he had left the country in fear for his life and was sheltering in a “safe space”.
A military source told the Reuters news agency that Rajoelina left the country on Sunday on board a French army aircraft, although President Emmanuel Macron refused to confirm that his government had played a role.
Hours after Rajoelina spoke of “an attempt to seize power illegally and by force”, the army’s elite CAPSAT unit, which played a key role in the 2009 coup that first brought Rajoelina to power, said it had taken control of the military.
It had earlier announced it would “refuse orders to shoot” demonstrators.
On Tuesday, a privately owned news website in Madagascar, 2424.mg, reported that the police had joined the military and gendarmerie in backing the demonstrations.
Led by Gen Z groups, the antigovernment protests began on September 25, initially to express anger over water and power outages. However, they soon expanded to encompass wider grievances over the cost of living, poverty and alleged government corruption, fuelling widespread calls for Rajoelina’s resignation.
Rajoelina, who positioned himself as a reformist, led a transitional government until 2014, stepping aside to restore constitutional order. He returned after winning the 2019 election and secured a second full term in 2023.
The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the demonstrations began, although Rajoelina’s government disputed these figures.
One CAPSAT soldier died in fighting with the gendarmerie on Saturday before a widespread move by the country’s security forces to support the demonstrations.
The protests have exposed deep frustration in one of the world’s poorest nations, where only a third of the population has access to electricity, and blackouts routinely exceed eight hours a day.
The Gen Z Madagascar movement has drawn inspiration from recent uprisings that have challenged governments in several countries, including Kenya, Indonesia and Peru.
Such youth-led demonstrations in South Asia have unseated governments in Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
