Antananarivo, Madagascar
Reuters
—
Madagascar’s military has taken cost of the Indian Ocean island, a military colonel stated on Tuesday, after President Andry Rajoelina fled abroad during a standoff with youth-led protesters and safety forces.
“We have taken the power,” Col. Michael Randrianirina, who led a mutiny of troopers becoming a member of anti-government Gen Z demonstrators, stated on nationwide radio.
Randrianirina added that the military was dissolving all establishments besides the decrease home of parliament or National Assembly, which voted to question Rajoelina minutes earlier.
In a day of turmoil for the nation off east Africa, the 51-year-old chief had sought to dissolve the meeting by decree.
Despite flying out on a French military jet, Rajoelina is refusing to step down in defiance of weeks of Gen Z protests demanding his resignation and widespread defections within the military.
The presidency didn’t instantly react to Randrianirina’s feedback however earlier stated the meeting assembly was unconstitutional and thus any decision “null and void.”
Rajoelina has stated he has moved to a protected place due to threats to his life. An opposition official, a military supply and a overseas diplomat advised Reuters he had fled the nation on Sunday aboard a French military airplane.
Demonstrations erupted within the nation on September 25 over water and energy shortages and rapidly escalated into an rebellion over broader grievances, together with corruption, unhealthy governance and an absence of fundamental companies.
The anger mirrored latest protests towards ruling elites elsewhere, together with Nepal and Morocco.
On Tuesday, at Antananarivo’s 13 May Square, alongside the primary drag lined with palm timber and French colonial buildings, 1000’s of protesters danced, marched, sang songs and waved banners denouncing Rajoelina as a French stooge due to his twin citizenship and assist from Madagascar’s former colonizer.
Many had been waving Malagasy flags and the signature Gen Z protest banner of a cranium and crossbones from the Japanese “One Piece” anime sequence.
French President Emmanuel Macron stated on Tuesday that constitutional order should be preserved and that whereas France understood the grievances of the youth, they shouldn’t be exploited by military factions.
Rajoelina has appeared more and more remoted after dropping the assist of CAPSAT, an elite unit which had helped him to grab energy in a 2009 coup.
CAPSAT joined the protesters over the weekend, saying it will refuse to fireside on them and escorting 1000’s of demonstrators in the primary sq. of the capital Antananarivo.
It later stated it was taking cost of the military and appointed a brand new military chief, prompting Rajoelina to warn on Sunday of an try and seize energy.
The paramilitary gendarmerie and the police have since damaged ranks with the president.
Madagascar, the place the typical age is lower than 20, has a inhabitants of about 30 million, three-quarters of whom stay in poverty. GDP per capita plunged 45% from the time of independence in 1960 to 2020, in line with the World Bank.