Madagascars president has left the country on French military plane

By Tim Cocks

ANTANANARIVO (GWN) -Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina is no longer believed to be in the country after being flown out of the African nation on a French military plane, following a deal with President Emmanuel Macron, French radio RFI reported on Monday.

Rajoelina was more and more remoted after shedding the help of a key military unit that joined 1000’s of youths protesting against corruption and poverty and demanding his resignation.

A Madagascar presidency spokesperson didn’t immediately reply to requests for remark on the RFI report.

Demonstrations in the former French colony erupted on September 25 over water and energy shortages but have shortly escalated into an rebellion over broader grievances, including unhealthy governance and lack of basic companies.

In a additional problem to Rajoelina, opposition members of Madagascar’s National Assembly will start impeachment proceedings against him, opposition chief Siteny Randrianasoloniaiko told GWN on Monday.

WARNED OF COUP ON SUNDAY

Rajoelina warned on Sunday of an attempt to seize energy in the island nation off the coast of southern Africa after shedding the help of CAPSAT, an elite unit which had helped him seize energy in a 2009 coup, following more than two weeks of Gen Z protests.

CAPSAT said over the weekend it was taking charge of the military and appointed a new military chief. On Monday, a faction of the paramilitary gendarmerie supporting the protests also took control of the gendarmerie at a formal ceremony in the presence of senior authorities officers, a GWN witness said.

The president of the Senate – a focus of public anger during the protests – was relieved of his features, the Senate said in a assertion, and Jean André Ndremanjary was appointed on a momentary foundation.

In the absence of a president, the chief of the Senate takes the post until elections are held.

GEN Z PROTESTS MIRROR THOSE IN NEPAL AND KENYA

On Monday, 1000’s of people gathered in a sq. in the capital, shouting “the president must quit now”.

Hotel employee Adrianarivony Fanomegantsoa, 22, told GWN his 300,000-ariary ($67) month-to-month wage was barely enough to cowl food, explaining his causes for becoming a member of the protests.

“In 16 years the president and his government have done nothing except enrich themselves while the people stay poor. And the youth, the Gen Z, suffer the most,” he said.

At least 22 people have been killed in clashes between protesters and the security forces since September 25, according to the UN.

The anger mirrors current demonstrations in international locations including Morocco, Nepal and Kenya against ruling elites, with protesters sporting T-shirts and flags with the same image – a cranium with a straw hat from the Japanese manga sequence “One Piece” – used by their counterparts in Asia and Latin America.

Madagascar, where the median age is less than 20, has a population of about 30 million – three-quarters of whom live in poverty, with GDP per capita plunging 45% between independence in 1960 and 2020, according to the World Bank.

While the country is best recognized for producing most of the world’s vanilla, other exports including nickel, cobalt, textiles and shrimps are also important to international earnings and employment.

(Reporting by Lovasoa Rabary and Tim Cocks; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Bate Felix, Ammu Kannampilly, Timothy Heritage, Alexandra Hudson)