Madagascars

Exiled former President Andry Rajoelina condemns takeover and refuses to step down despite defections in the security forces.

Madagascar’s coup leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina, who seized power this month after Gen Z-driven protests forced the former president out the country, has appointed a new prime minister.

Randrianirina, who was sworn in as president last week, said on Monday that he had chosen businessman Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo as the new prime minister because of his experience and “connections with the international organisations that work with us”.

Andry Rajoelina, the former president, whom lawmakers impeached for desertion of duty after he fled abroad last weekend, has condemned the army takeover and refused to step down while in exile.

Rajoelina fled for his life amid the nationwide protests led by the “Gen Z Madagascar” youth movement, which initially erupted in September over persistent water and power cuts and soon expanded into calls for a system overhaul.

Rajoelina says he has travelled to a safe location, which he has not disclosed. Last week he also said that a resignation letter attributed to him was fake, and warned citizens that “lies” were being spread to “confuse” the public.

Randrianirina’s military coup has been condemned by the United Nations and by the African Union, which suspended Madagascar’s membership.

The little-known army colonel, who has long been a vocal critic of Rajoelina, the new president made his move when his soldiers rebelled and joined the anti-government demonstrations.

His appearance riding on an armoured car among the protesters and accompanying them to a main square to demonstrate meant he emerged as the leader of the uprising, which before that time had no visible figure in charge.

The country’s High Constitutional Court ratified the takeover within hours of it happening.

Oct. 13 (UPI) — Madagascar’s president has fled the country, according to reports, after thousands of protesters converged on the capital Monday to demand his resignation.

President Andry Rajoelina had been scheduled to address the island nation, which is located off Africa’s southeastern coast, when his office reported a group of soldiers had joined protesters in a threat to seize state television.

While Rajoelina’s whereabouts are unknown, his office said he would be making a speech Monday night. The president has dual French-Malagasy citizenship and was reported to have left the country in a French military aircraft, according to his staff.

Rajoelina, 51, said in a statement Sunday that he wanted to “inform the nation and the international community that an attempt to seize power illegally and by force” had been “initiated.”

On Saturday, Rajoelina’s new prime minister Gen. Ruphin Fortunat Zafisambo said the government was “fully ready to listen and engage in dialogue with all factions — youth, unions or the military.”

Monday’s coup attempt follows two weeks of protests, mostly led by young adults, called Gen Z Mada over alleged corruption, power and water shortages, as well as inflation and unemployment in Madagascar’s capital of Antananarivo.

At least 22 people have been killed and 100 injured since the start of the unrest in September, according to the United Nations. Since Madagascar declared its independence from France in 1960, it has seen several leaders toppled in coups.

“As long as Rajoelina remains in power, we will continue the struggle,” Gen Z Mada wrote in a statement earlier this month. Madagascar’s president responded to the unrest by appointing Zafisambo as prime minister in an effort to stop the anti-government protests.