A military colonel in Madagascar has announced that the armed forces are taking control of the country.
The announcement, in front of a ceremonial presidential palace in the capital, Antananarivo, came almost immediately after parliament voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina.
“We are taking power,” Colonel Michael Randrianirina, the leader of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit, said.
Mr Rajoelina, whose government has faced weeks of youth protests over poverty, power outages and a lack of opportunity in the Indian Ocean island country, has reportedly fled the country, fearing for his safety.
However, his office denounced the military’s actions as an “attempted coup d’etat” and an “illegal declaration” and insisted that Mr Rajoelina remained in charge.
Colonel Randrianirina said the military would form a council composed of officers from the military and gendarmerie (a military force with policing duties), and that a prime minister would be appointed to “quickly” form a civilian government.
The constitution and the powers of the High Constitutional Court had been suspended, and a referendum would be held in two years, he added, even though the details of the vote were not immediately clear.
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Mr Rajoelina had faced growing demands to step down amid weeks of anti-government protests, largely driven by young Gen Z (those born in the mid-to-late 1990s) demonstrators.
The protests reached a critical moment on Saturday, when Colonel Randrianirina and soldiers from his elite CAPSAT unit joined the demonstrators and turned against Mr Rajoelina.
On Tuesday, from an undisclosed location, Mr Rajoelina issued a decree dissolving the lower house of parliament, seemingly to prevent impeachment.
However, lawmakers disregarded the decree and voted overwhelmingly to impeach the 51-year-old.
Mr Rajoelina’s whereabouts are currently unknown. He has left the country for a “safe place” in fear for his life after the rebellion.
Once a French colony, Madagascar has experienced multiple military-backed coups since gaining independence in 1960. This includes the 2009 coup, which brought Mr Rajoelina to power as the head of a transitional government.
The youth-led protests against his administration began last month in response to electricity and water shortages, but have since expanded into broader discontent with the government and Mr Rajoelina’s leadership.
Demonstrators have raised various concerns, such as poverty, the high cost of living, access to higher education, and allegations of corruption involving government officials and their relatives.
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Madagascar faces significant poverty, impacting about 75% of its 31 million residents, according to the World Bank.
On Tuesday, thousands of young protesters gathered in a central square in Antananarivo, continuing their anti-government demonstrations and demanding Mr Rajoelina’s resignation.
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While the streets remained largely peaceful and soldiers patrolling in armoured vehicles were met with cheers from locals, the situation remained tense.
“We don’t have a reliable supply of electricity and water from the government,” said protester Soavololona Faraniaina.
“If children in Madagascar are forced to study in the dark, what hope does the country’s future hold? Where is the prosperous Madagascar that other nations once admired?”
