ANTANANARIVO, Oct 14 (The African Portal) – Madagascar’s military says it has taken control of the country shortly after parliament voted to impeach President Andry Rajoelina for “desertion of duty.”
Colonel Michael Randrianirina, head of the elite CAPSAT (Corps d’armée des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques) unit, announced the takeover on Tuesday in a statement read outside a government building.
“We have taken power,” he said, adding that the army was dissolving all state institutions except the lower house of parliament, which minutes earlier had voted to remove Rajoelina.
The move followed weeks of anti-government protests and violent clashes across the country. Rajoelina fled Madagascar on Monday, saying he feared for his life amid escalating unrest.
Earlier in the day, the president had attempted to dissolve the National Assembly in a bid to stop the opposition-led impeachment vote. The presidency said the decree “shall enter into force immediately upon its publication by radio and/or television broadcast.”
In a separate post on social media, Rajoelina defended the decision as necessary to “restore order within our nation and strengthen democracy.”
Opposition leader Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko accused the president of abandoning his duties after leaving the country.
Rajoelina, a former mayor of the capital Antananarivo, said late Monday that he was in a “safe space” after what he described as attempts on his life, without disclosing his location.
The protests, which began on 25 September, were largely led by young demonstrators angry over severe power and water shortages. The crisis deepened over the weekend when sections of the army and police refused to fire on protesters and instead joined calls for Rajoelina and his ministers to step down.
Among those siding with protesters was the CAPSAT unit — the same elite force that played a decisive role in the 2009 coup which first brought Rajoelina to power.
In an effort to calm tensions, Rajoelina dismissed his entire cabinet last month.
Radio France Internationale reported that the president left the country aboard a French military aircraft over the weekend.
