ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — President of Madagascar Andriy Rajoelina He said he fled the country because he feared for his life. military rebellion However, he did not announce his resignation in a speech streamed on social media from an undisclosed location late Monday.
What Rajoelina faced was Weeks of anti-government protests led by Generation ZIt reached a critical juncture on Saturday, when elite units of the military took part in protests and demanded the resignation of the president and other government ministers. In response, Rajoelina said illegal attempts were underway to seize power on the Indian Ocean island and leave the country.
“We were forced to find a safe place to save our lives,” Rajoelina said in a late-night speech, according to the presidential palace. The speech was also scheduled to be broadcast on Malagasy television, but was postponed for several hours as soldiers tried to take control of the state television building.
The speech was eventually broadcast on the presidential palace’s official Facebook page, but not on national television.
These were Rajoelina’s first public comments since he joined thousands of protesters who gathered in the capital Antananarivo’s central square over the weekend after CAPSAT military forces rebelled against the government in an apparent coup.
Rajoelina called for dialogue “to find a way out of this situation” and said the constitution must be respected. He did not say how he left Madagascar or where he is, but reports said he left the country on a French military plane.
A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson declined to comment on the report.
Madagascar is a former French colony, and Rajoelina reportedly holds French nationality, which has long been a source of frustration for some Malagasy people.
Anti-government protests began on September 25th About chronic water outages and power outages However, dissatisfaction with Rajoelina and his government snowballed.
AP Audio: Madagascan president flees country after soldiers fight back, says lawmaker
Associated Press’ Lisa Dwyer reports on the coup attempt in Madagascar.
it is most serious anxiety in the island nation of 31 million off Africa’s east coast since Rajoelina himself first came to power as leader of a transitional government after a military-backed coup in 2009.
The same elite CAPSAT military unit that launched the rebellion against Rajoelina was prominent in his first seizure of power in 2009.
Claims that elite forces are in control of the military
Rajoelina has not revealed who was behind the coup attempt, but CAPSAT forces now control all of Madagascar’s armed forces and have announced the appointment of a new officer in charge of the military, which the defense minister accepted in Rajoelina’s absence.
CAPSAT appears to be in a prestigious position and is also supported by other military forces, including the gendarmerie security forces.
CAPSAT commander Col. Michael Landrianilina said the military had “answered the call of the people” but denied there was a coup. He told reporters at the country’s military headquarters on Sunday that it was up to Madagascar’s people to decide what happens next and whether Rajoelina leaves power and new elections are held.
Landrianilina said the soldiers decided to stand by the protesters and engaged in a gun battle with security forces trying to quell the weekend protests, leaving one soldier dead. However, there was no major fighting on the streets, and soldiers in Antananarivo riding in armored vehicles and waving Malagasy flags were cheered by residents.
The U.S. Embassy in Madagascar advised U.S. citizens to shelter in place because the situation remains “very unstable and unpredictable.” The African Union called on all parties “both civilian and military” to exercise calm and restraint.
weeks of protests
Madagascar has been reeling from three weeks of deadly anti-government protests, initially led by a group calling itself “Gen Z Madagascar.”
The United Nations says there was a demonstration It criticized Malagasy authorities’ “violent response” to protests that left at least 22 people dead and dozens injured and were largely peaceful in the early days of the movement. The government disputes the death toll.
Demonstrators have raised a variety of issues, including poverty, the cost of living, access to higher education, and allegations of corruption and embezzlement of public funds by government officials, their families and associates.
Civil society groups and trade unions also joined the protests, which resulted in curfews being implemented in Antananarivo and other major cities. A curfew remained in place in Antananarivo and the northern port city of Antsiranana.
The Gen Z protesters who started the uprising rallied through the internet and claim they were inspired by: protests that overthrew the government in Nepal and Sri Lanka.
History of political crisis
Madagascar has had a history of political crises since gaining independence from France in 1960, with several leaders ousted in coups.
Rajoelina, 51, first came into the spotlight as leader of the transitional government after the 2009 coup that forced then-president Marc Ravalomanana to flee the country and lose power. Rajoelina was elected president in 2018 and re-elected in 2023 following a boycott vote by the opposition.
The Mauritian government said Madagascar’s former prime minister under Rajoelina and one of his presidential aides also fled the country, arriving on the nearby island of Mauritius before dawn on Sunday. Mauritius said it was “not satisfied” that the civilian plane landed on its territory.
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Imlay reported from Cape Town, South Africa. Associated Press writer Jon Lester contributed to this report from Paris.
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This article has been corrected to show that the president’s speech was broadcast on Facebook but not on Malagasy television.
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