Madagascar’s president says illegal power grab by military is under way

Madagascar’s president said an “attempt to seize power illegally and by force” was under way, as an elite military unit that joined protesters on the streets on Saturday announced it was taking over the army.

The Capsat unit’s intervention comes after weeks of youth-led protests, which started on 25 September against water and electricity shortages and expanded to calling for the resignation of the president, Andry Rajoelina, an end to corruption and radical overhaul of the political system.

Rajoelina said he was “in the country … managing national affairs”, in a statement released on Sunday morning. The newly appointed prime minister, Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo, had said on state television on Saturday night that the government was “fully ready to listen and engage in dialogue with all factions – youth, unions or the military”.

Rajoelina said: “The presidency of the republic wishes to inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force, contrary to the constitution and to democratic principles, is currently under way.”

Soldiers from Capsat , which brought Rajoelina to power in a coup in 2009, said on Sunday morning that they were taking command of the military, according to a videoed statement shared by local news organisations. It was not immediately clear whether the rest of the military was submitting to Capsat’s control on the Indian Ocean island of about 32 million people.

On Saturday, Capsat said it would not fire on protesters and called on the rest of the military to “join forces” in refusing. Late in the afternoon, members of the unit left heir base in Soanierana district, in the south of the capital, Antananarivo, driving in armoured vehicles to the symbolic May 13 Square, about 3 miles to the north, accompanied by thousands of cheering protesters.

A Capsat general said on Saturday that one of their soldiers had been killed by the gendarmerie, police under the command of the defence ministry, and a journalist had been shot in the buttocks. The UN said at least 22 people were killed at the start of the protests in September, but Rajoelina disputed this last week, saying 12 “looters and vandals” had died.

The protests were initially coordinated by Gen Z Madagascar, a leaderless group of young people who had been inspired by similar “gen Z” protests in Indonesia and Nepal, where the government was overthrown.

Rajoelina fired his government on 29 September in response to the initial demonstrations. However, Gen Z Madagascar rejected this as insufficient, calling for the resignation of the president, as well as the leader of parliament and constitutional court judges, while protesters on the streets continued to shout, “Miala Rajoelina!” (Leave Rajoelina!).

Some young activists expressed concern on Saturday about Capsat’s intervention, with one calling the soldiers, and opposition politicians who joined them in May 13 Square, “dangerous”.

Madagascar is one of the world’s poorest countries, with a GDP per capita of just $545 last year, according to the World Bank. The precious gem- and vanilla-rich nation was ranked 140 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s 2024 corruption perceptions index.

Source: AFP

- Agencies