Colonel who led the rebellion says – The army has taken control of Madagascar

The Army has taken charge of an island in the Indian Ocean MadagascarAn army colonel said on Tuesday after President Andry Rajoelina He fled abroad during a Confrontation with The demonstrators are led by youth And security forces.

“We have seized power,” Colonel Michael Randrianrena, who led the mutiny of soldiers who joined anti-government protesters, told national radio.

Randrianirina added that the army has dissolved all institutions except the lower house of parliament, or the National Assembly, which voted to impeach Rajoelina minutes ago.

On a day of unrest in the country off East Africa, the 51-year-old leader sought to dissolve parliament by decree.

Despite traveling on a French military plane, Rajoelina refuses to step down in defiance of weeks of Generation Z protests demanding his resignation and widespread defections in the military.

The presidency did not immediately respond to Randrianirina’s comments, but had previously said that the assembly meeting was unconstitutional and therefore any decision was “null and void.”

Rajoelina said he moved to a safe place due to threats to his life. An opposition official and a foreign military and diplomatic source told Reuters that he fled the country on Sunday on board a French military plane.

Demonstrations in the country broke out on September 25 over water and electricity shortages and quickly escalated into an uprising over broader grievances, including corruption, mismanagement, and lack of basic services.

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This anger reflects recent protests against ruling elites elsewhere, including… Nepal and Morocco.

On Tuesday, in Antananarivo’s May 13 Square, along the main road lined with palm trees and French colonial buildings, thousands of protesters danced, marched, sang songs and waved banners denouncing Rajoelina as a French agent because of his dual citizenship and support from Madagascar’s former colonizer.

Many were waving Madagascar flags and a distinctive Gen Z protest sign bearing a skull and crossbones from the Japanese anime series “One Piece.”

At one point, Randrianrena took the stage and asked: “Are you ready to accept the military takeover?”, drawing applause from the audience.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the constitutional order must be preserved, and that while France understands the grievances of young people, they should not be exploited by military factions.

Rajoelina appeared isolated after losing the support of CAPSAT, the elite unit that helped him seize power in a 2009 coup. Randrianirina is a known leader of CAPSAT.

The unit joined protesters over the weekend, saying it would refuse to shoot at them, and accompanied thousands of demonstrators into the main square of the capital, Antananarivo.

Paramilitary gendarmerie and police also separated from Rajoelina.

The population of Madagascar, where the average age is less than 20 years, is about 30 million people, three-quarters of whom live in poverty. Per capita GDP has fallen by 45 percent from independence in 1960 to 2020, according to the World Bank.