A military colonel in Madagascar has announced that the armed forces are taking control of the country after parliament voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina.
According to the announcement, in front of presidential palace in the capital, Antananarivo, the leader of Madagascar’s elite CAPSAT military unit Colonel Michael Randrianirina said “We are taking power.”
Mr Rajoelina, whose government has faced weeks of youth protests over poverty, power outages and a lack of opportunity in the Indian Ocean Island country, has reportedly fled the country, fearing for his safety.
However, his office denounced the military’s actions as an “attempted coup d’etat” and an “illegal declaration” and insisted that Mr Rajoelina remained in charge.
Colonel Randrianirina said the military would form a council composed of officers from the military and gendarmerie (a military force with policing duties), and that a prime minister would be appointed to “quickly” form a civilian government.
Elected in 2023 for a second five-year term after a military coup that brought him back to power-an operation in which the elite army unit played a key role—Rajoelina faces escalating pressure after the popular movement that began on September 25 led to casualties among demonstrators.
