On Monday, Oct. 13, the president of The Republic of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, had fled the country to an undisclosed location as a result of the recent Malagasy coup d’état. In a speech made by the president, he said “I was forced to find a safe place to protect my life.” This speech was meant to be shown as a national TV broadcast but was only ever aired on the president’s official Facebook page. According to the president’s office, this was due to the protesters taking control of the state broadcaster buildings.
The Malagasy coup d’état is the snowballed result of weeks of protests primarily led by the Gen Z citizens of Madagascar. These protests started on Sep. 25, primarily about the massive water and power outages that have occurred frequently across the nation. These initially issues eventually turned into a wider protest of Rajoelina and the government. These protests led to at least 22 deaths and more than 100 people being injured by the gendarmerie. The United Nations has criticized the Madagascan authorities for their “violent response” towards the mostly peaceful protests. On Saturday, Oct. 11, the Corps d’administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques, also known as CAPSAT, sided with the Gen Z protesters against Rajoelina. CAPSAT is an elite unit of the Madagascar Armed Forces based in the Madagascar capital of Antananarivo. CAPSAT previously led a mutiny in 2009; this mutiny is what led to Andry Rajoelina being put into power.
On Sunday, Oct. 12, CAPSAT took control of the government’s armed forces and seized power of the state. This event was labeled as a coup by Rajoelina and his parties; a CAPSAT commander, Col. Michael Randrianirina, denies that any coup had taken place. Randrianirina told reporters, “We responded to the people’s call.”
Rajoelina has stated that he wants a dialogue “to find a way out of this situation”, also saying how he believes that Madagascar’s constitution should be respected. No official statement has been made on how the president has fled the country, but one report claims that he has been flown out of the country on a French military plane. A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson has declined to comment on the claim.
On Oct. 14, Andry Rajoelina was impeached by the National Assembly, which was later approved by the highest court of Madagascar. On Friday, Oct. 17, the military swore in Colonel Michael Randrianirina as the 9th president of Madagascar. During his swearing-in ceremony, Randrianirina said that he plans to appoint a civilian as the new prime minister and hold elections within the next two years. The new president said that his leadership would “joyfully open a new chapter in the life of our nation.”