The military unit that joined the protest movement against President Andry Rajoelina in Madagascar announced this Tuesday, October 14, “to take power” during a speech in Antananarivo, just after the National Assembly vote that removed the Head of State, who according to rumors is a fugitive.
“We are going to take power starting today and we will dissolve the Senate and the High Constitutional Court. We will let the National Assembly continue working,” said Colonel Michael Randrianirina in front of the presidential palace, in the center of the Malagasy capital.
Disputed in the street and held in an unknown location, Andry Rajoelina, who had dissolved the Assembly shortly before on Tuesday, denounced during the vote that dismissed him a “meeting (…) devoid of any legal basis.”
The president elected in 2009
Exfiltrated by a French military plane on Sunday according to French radio RFI, he first came to power in 2009, appointed by the military after a popular uprising.
“We are going to create a committee made up of officers from the army, the gendarmerie and the national police. Perhaps there will be senior civilian advisors there. It is this committee that will guarantee the work of the presidency. At the same time, within a few days we will create a civil government,” assured Colonel Randrianirina, head of Capsat.
This military unit, which played a major role in the 2009 coup, reversed the balance of power by joining the Saturday demonstrations that began on September 25.
His officers asked security forces to “refuse to shoot” protesters before joining them in the center of the capital.
Andry Rajoelina has “several official visits planned”
A total of 130 of the 163 deputies, more than the necessary two-thirds majority, voted on Tuesday in favor of the dismissal of Andry Rajoelina. Normally it should have been supported by the High Constitutional Court, whose dissolution was finally announced on Tuesday by Colonel Randrianirina.
Madagascar, an island with a very disadvantaged population, has a long history of popular uprisings followed by the establishment of transitional military governments.
The fugitive president stated on Tuesday that he was making “several planned official visits to friendly countries, members of SADC”, the Southern African cooperation organization.
Uncertainty is spreading further on this impoverished Indian Ocean island, where thousands of protesters gathered again on Tuesday in Antananarivo.
As since September 25, these are young people mobilized by the Generation Z collective, which is now joined by officials called to strike by various unions and protesters of all generations.
At least 80% of Madagascar’s 32 million inhabitants live on less than 15,000 ariary a day (2.80 euros), the World Bank’s poverty line.
Source: BFM TV
