Coup attempt reported in Madagascar, President’s whereabouts unknown
Madagascar’s presidency has said that there is a attempt to grab power by force in the country. The statement was made as more soldiers threw their support behind a youth-led protest that has rocked the island nation for more than two weeks.
The Office of the Malagasy President Andry Rajoelina, said in a statement on its social media account that “an attempted illegal and forcible seizure of power” was under way, while adding that the President had urged “dialogue to resolve the crisis”.
The office said on Saturday that the President and the Prime Minister were “fully in control of the nation’s affairs”, though the President’s whereabouts were unknown on Sunday, as many Malagasy believed he had left the country.
Recall that Madagascar soldiers on Saturday joined thousands of protestors in the capital, after announcing they would refuse any orders to shoot demonstrators.
The youth-led demonstrations in Antananarivo drew large crowds in one of the biggest gatherings since a protest movement erupted in the country on September 25.
The demonstrations on Saturday were the largest in several days, a movement sparked by anger over power and water shortages, and evolving into a broader anti-government movement, which has gradually become the most challenging confrontation to Andry Rajoelina’s rule since his reelection in 2023.
Troops from the elite CAPSAT unit, which helped President Andry Rajoelina into power in a 2009 coup, urged fellow soldiers to disobey orders on Saturday and back the demonstrators.
According to Reuters, CAPSAT officers said on Sunday they had command over the country’s security operations and would coordinate all branches of the military from their base on the outskirts of the capital, Antananarivo. They said they had appointed General Demosthene Pikulas, the former head of the military academy, as Army Chief.
A unit of the paramilitary gendarmerie, which had so far tackled the protests together with the police, was also reported to have broken ranks with the government on Sunday.
the Intervention Forces of the National Gendarmerie said in a statement broadcast on Real TV: “All use of force and any improper behaviour towards our fellow citizens are prohibited, as the gendarmerie is a force meant to protect people and not to defend the interests of a few individuals.”
Demonstrators are calling for Rajoelina to step down, apologize for violence against protesters, and dissolve the Senate and electoral commission, in a protests which is said to have been inspired by Gen Z-led movements in Kenya and Nepal, over water and electricity shortages.
