A army colonel in Madagascar has introduced that the armed forces are taking management of the nation.
The announcement, in entrance of a ceremonial presidential palace within the capital, Antananarivo, got here virtually instantly after parliament voted to question President Andry Rajoelina.
“We are taking power,” Colonel Michael Randrianirina, the chief of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT army unit, mentioned.
Mr Rajoelina, whose authorities has confronted weeks of youth protests over poverty, energy outages and an absence of alternative within the Indian Ocean island nation, has reportedly fled the nation, fearing for his security.
Nonetheless, his workplace denounced the army’s actions as an “attempted coup d’etat” and an “illegal declaration” and insisted that Mr Rajoelina remained in cost.
Colonel Randrianirina mentioned the army would type a council composed of officers from the army and gendarmerie (a army pressure with policing duties), and {that a} prime minister could be appointed to “quickly” type a civilian authorities.
The structure and the powers of the Excessive Constitutional Court docket had been suspended, and a referendum could be held in two years, he added, regardless that the main points of the vote weren’t instantly clear.
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Madagascar’s President flees nation after coup
Mr Rajoelina had confronted rising calls for to step down amid weeks of anti-government protests, largely pushed by younger Gen Z (these born within the mid-to-late Nineties) demonstrators.
The protests reached a essential second on Saturday, when Colonel Randrianirina and troopers from his elite CAPSAT unit joined the demonstrators and turned in opposition to Mr Rajoelina.
On Tuesday, from an undisclosed location, Mr Rajoelina issued a decree dissolving the decrease home of parliament, seemingly to stop impeachment.
Nonetheless, lawmakers disregarded the decree and voted overwhelmingly to question the 51-year-old.
Picture:
Members of the army exterior the presidential palace in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Pic: Reuters
Mr Rajoelina’s whereabouts are presently unknown. He has left the nation for a “safe place” in worry for his life after the revolt.
As soon as a French colony, Madagascar has skilled a number of military-backed coups since gaining independence in 1960. This consists of the 2009 coup, which introduced Mr Rajoelina to energy as the pinnacle of a transitional authorities.
The youth-led protests in opposition to his administration started final month in response to electrical energy and water shortages, however have since expanded into broader discontent with the federal government and Mr Rajoelina’s management.
Demonstrators have raised varied considerations, resembling poverty, the excessive value of dwelling, entry to greater schooling, and allegations of corruption involving authorities officers and their family members.
Picture:
A nationwide youth-led demonstration in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Pic: Reuters
Madagascar faces important poverty, impacting about 75% of its 31 million residents, in response to the World Financial institution.
On Tuesday, 1000’s of younger protesters gathered in a central sq. in Antananarivo, persevering with their anti-government demonstrations and demanding Mr Rajoelina’s resignation.
Whereas the streets remained largely peaceable and troopers patrolling in armoured automobiles have been met with cheers from locals, the state of affairs remained tense.
“We don’t have a reliable supply of electricity and water from the government,” mentioned 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?”
