Madagascar’s deposed president, Andry Rajoelina, has accused the National Assembly of conspiring with the military to overthrow his government.
Rajoelina, while confirming for the first time that he had left the country, released a statement following a military takeover sparked by weeks of protests that have thrown the island nation into turmoil.
He said he departed the country on Sunday after receiving “explicit and extremely serious threats” to his life, adding that the threats emerged just as he was preparing to travel abroad for an official mission.
On Monday, he announced that he had sought refuge in a “safe location,” though he declined to provide further details.
The ICIR reported that the country’s new military ruler, Michael Randrianirina, announced on Wednesday, that he would soon be sworn in as president on Friday, following a coup that ousted Rajoelina.
The 51-year-old leader, who was impeached by lawmakers on Tuesday with 130 yes votes to one blank ballot after fleeing the country aboard a French military plane, denounced the coup and vowed not to step down, even as Gen Z-led protests and mass defections within the security forces intensified calls for his resignation.
Randrianirina, a former commander of the elite Corps d’administration des personnels et des services administratifs et techniques (CAPSAT) army unit that was instrumental in the 2009 coup that brought Rajoelina to power, broke ranks with him last week and urged soldiers not to open fire on protesters.
Madagascar has become the latest former French colony to fall under military rule since 2020, following similar coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Gabon, and Guinea.
The youth-led Gen Z movement, which began the protests on September 25 over water and power shortages, welcomed Randrianirina’s intervention.
However, in reaction to the military takeover, the African Union has suspended the island nation from all its activities and membership.
A spokesperson for the African Union told Reuters on Wednesday that Madagascar had been suspended with immediate effect following the coup, though no additional details were provided.
The suspension by the 55-member bloc holds significant political weight and could further isolate the country’s new leadership.
The ICIR reported that the 51-year-old president first came to power in 2009 through a coup fueled by youth-led protests, becoming the world’s youngest head of state at 34, but his pledges to improve living standards and eliminate corruption remained unfulfilled.
Madagascar, with an average age of under 20 and a population of about 30 million, has roughly three-quarters of its people living in poverty.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.